Curtain Call
by Symeria
Summary: The Flock is called back to the world's stage to fight again. Realistic faxness, suspense, lots of drama, and fights that didn't come in the real MR4. Set after MR3, formerly titled "Ari's Return while others are missing" And no environmentalism. -wink-
1. Normal as it gets for us

Maximum Ride Fanfic

**1**

I groaned and sat up in bed. After a year of sleeping in caves, on rooftops, and otherwise captured had made me unused to beds. They were too soft. I flopped back down and closed my eyes, trying to will myself to sleep.

_Come on Maximum; just go to sleep now, so you won't tomorrow during math class.._

It was something else besides the too-soft bed, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I got up and shuffled to my door. I opened it as silently as possible and crept into the hall then tiptoed past the Gasman's door. I could hear Gazzy's snoring all the way down the hall. I quietly crept down the carpeted steps downstairs into the kitchen.

_I think there still might be some cookies that Mom made left._

I opened the cookie jar, and my hopes for chocolaty chipped goodness were dashed. It was empty. I closed it and turned to the fridge. I rummaged inside, but nothing looked at all appetizing.

"Looking for something?" I heard someone on the other side of the refrigerator door mumble. I jumped and slammed the door. Fang stood smirking.

"Mean." I stated quietly, not wanting to wake everyone up. He shrugged in that insanely annoying way he does. "I couldn't sleep, so I came down to find some cookies, and-" I stopped when Fang waved a cookie in front of my face. My eyes widened and I grabbed it. I smiled at him gratefully as I chewed the piece of chocolaty heaven.

"Come here, check this out." He said quietly, nodding with his head towards the living room. I followed. He sat and picked up the laptop that was lying on the plush blue couch, and I dropped beside him. I watched him as he rapidly typed on the keyboard. It was completely dark in the room, and the screen cast a blue glow across his face. A screen popped up, showing his blog. After hundreds of kids had stormed the Itex headquarters, his blog was getting bigger than ever. It's kinda funny that once the flock voted Fang "most likely to become a cult leader."

"Oh man." I breathed as he scrolled down the page of comments. "How many?"

"Over twenty thousand."

My eyes widened to the size of hubcaps. "Whoa." was all I could say. He stopped scrolling at a random spot, and I read a few comments. I spotted the word "Fax" used a few times, but why would these kids be talking about a fax machine? I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Fang?"

He turned to me.

"What do they mean about "Fax?"

Fang was silent. Not much different than usual, but right now, I wanted an answer.

"It's just one of those stupid names blended together."

I was confused. "Like…Brangelina?"

"Yeah." He muttered.

"Fax." I whispered to myself, trying to figure it out. Suddenly it hit me like a flyboy going at two-hundred miles per hour.

"Oh my gosh, it's us." I said incredulously. Fang raised his eyebrows as a response. "Why would they be saying that about us?"

He shrugged.

"Did you post anything that would lead them to thinking about 'us'?"

"Nope." He said shaking his head.

"Good, because if you did I'd be forced to kick your butt."

"Ashamed of me or something? Or maybe it's that you don't want to break the hearts of millions of girls around the globe." He said, smirking in the way that only he can. I shot him a glare. For some reason the other corner of his mouth joined his left and he was smiling. Not a grin, but smiling.

I gave a small smile and rolled my eyes. "You can be so annoying."

He shrugged. Fortunately, I'm fluent in "shrug."

"I'm going back to bed." I stated standing.

"Ditto." Fang said, rising. He closed the laptop and left it on the coffee table. He walked to the basement door that had been converted into a bedroom that he shared with Iggy.

My arm brushed against his as I walked to the stairs.

"Max?" I heard him whisper. Stepped closer to him so I could see his face in the moonlight that was filtering through the window.

"I swear I didn't post anything."

"I know." I said. Because of some odd compulsion, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and headed upstairs.

Fang grinned to himself in the moonlight for a moment, then crept down the dark steps into the basement.


	2. Hadn't we already dealt with this?

I woke up the next morning because the sun was shining through the blinds into my face.

_Can't you come up later?_ I asked the sun. I didn't get a response.

I turned on my side so I could see my sister across the room. Ella still slept soundly, resting her head on her arm. Her pink quilt only covered her up to her waist, so I got up and covered her again. Even though we were living with my mom now, some of my motherly instincts still remained. Only now, I didn't have to worry about Erasers or flyboys. Win, win situation.

I didn't make a sound as I walked across the thick blue carpet. I opened the closet doors as quietly as I could, but they squeaked anyway, and I outwardly winced.

_Stupid door. Can't you shut up for once?_

I heard Ella stir behind me. I turned to see her blinking her eyes, clearing away the fog of sleep.

"I'm so sorry for waking you up, Ella."

She sat up and blinked. "That's okay Max. I should be getting up anyway." She said glancing at the clock, sounding groggy.

I smiled at her gratefully. She shuffled over to the closet beside me. She took out my jean jacket, a black with white graffiti print tee shirt, and dark jeans. She held it up to me.

"Wear this."

It's _scary _how fast this kid can put together an outfit. Five seconds is her record. I smiled at her. "Thanks Ella." She knew I didn't care what I wore to school, so she had taken on the task of _telling _me what to wear. I gave her the rule that short-ish skirts were out of the question.

A few weeks ago, I had made some sort of bet with Iggy, and the terms were if I lost, which I did, I would have to wear anything Ella and Nudge picked for me to wear

to school the next day. They had picked a short skirt, and a disgustingly pink top that Nudge claimed was "uber-cute." I had gone to school, and while I was walking down the hall with Fang, a guy whistled at me.

I knew he was in for it.

Fang gave him a glare that should have killed him. Nevertheless, after we got no more than five steps down the hall, the same guy whistled at me again. This time Fang punched him so hard he should have gone back to the prehistoric age. Fang got suspended for two days, but before that, he had gotten a forty minute lecture on "proper school behavior" from the principle. Luckily this guy isn't _as _bad as the head-hunter.

Dr.Martinez had _not _been happy, but Iggy and I congratulated him the second he got home. What can I say? It had been an incredible punch, the jerk hadn't seen it coming.

I got dressed in the outfit Ella picked out, and headed downstairs to find something to eat. Gazzy was already rummaging through the cupboards, attempting to find something to fill his growling stomach. He turned when he heard me coming.

"Hi Max!" He said, giving me a wide smile. Every time I see that gap-toothed smile, I remember why I love him so much.

"Mornin' Gazzy." I said, walking over to him and giving him a kiss on the head.

"Can you help me find the Frosted Flakes?" he asked.

"Sure." I replied, and joined him in searching the cabinets. After around two minutes of finding nothing, Angel shuffled down the stairs.

"Hi Sweetie." I said. She yawned. Her golden curls were tangled, and the sheet had left marks on her face.

"Hi Max. Whatcha doin?"

"Trying to find the Frosted Flakes."

"Why?" she asked.

The Gasman answered, "Because they're ggggrrrreeeeaaaatt!" in a perfect Tony the tiger imitation. Angel joined us in our search, and we gave up after ten minutes. I had checked the trash, even though the box had been nearly full yesterday, but it wasn't there. We had to settle for corn Pops instead. After years of eating dry cereal, milk was something we were still getting used to.

Gazzy grimaced as he chewed. "Eww." He would occasionally grumble. "The only one who likes these is Iggy."

And speak of the Iggy, he came up from the basement at that moment wearing grey sweats and a blue teeshirt. "Hey Iggy." I said, so he would know where we were eating.

"Hey Max." he said, shuffling over to the table. He reached for the back of the chair, and missed the first time, but the second grabbed it with excellent precision and sat.

"Want some corn Pops?" Angel asked brightly.

"Sure!" Iggy replied and reached for the box.

Nudge and Ella came downstairs. Both were wearing lavender shirts and jeans, so they matched. I wondered if they'd planned it.

Nudge immediately began searching for cereal. "Where's the Frosted Flakes?" she asked.

A smile crossed Iggy's face quickly, but I spotted it before it disappeared.

"Ig…what did you do with the cereal?" I asked suspiciously.

"Well, um," he started, sounding guilty and amused at the same time. "last night I sorta took it to do an…experiment."

"What did you do Iggy?" I asked sarcastically. You can't exactly say _experiments _had always worked out in out favor.

"Well, I was kinda wondering what would happen if you put a bomb inside of a cereal box and-"

"_You blew up the cereal!" _the Gasman cried incredulously.

Iggy smirked. "Yeah, it went all over the place! Some of it hit me from twenty feet away!.

"You blew up the cereal! So now I'm eating these disgusting corn pops! AND I didn't even get to see it!" I had a feeling Gazzy was more upset about not seeing the explosion.

"Chill out." Iggy said "Ella got it all on video for you."

"Oh. Cool!" he said, brightening.

I shot Ella a look, and she smiled. I think that kid has something for Iggy.

I glanced at the clock on the microwave. "Oh man, guys we gotta go in ten minutes!" I said loudly. Iggy, the Gasman, and Angel took off fast to their room to get dressed and ready.

"Where's Fang?" Ella asked.

"I don't know." I replied. "He'd better not be still asleep."

Dr. Martinez, my mom, came rushing down the stairs in a whirlwind. She hurriedly grabbed her purse as she gave us quick good byes. "Bye, I'm so late! Have a great day at school, be good, get good grades, all that stuff." She kissed me, Ella, Angel,and Nudge. Even though the rest of the flock isn't related to her, she loves them almost like they were her own kids. I watched her go into the living room to the front door, and suddenly, the world exploded into a mass of suffocating pain.


	3. If you're lying I swear I'll kill you!

"Mom!" I faintly heard Ella scream.

I dropped to the floor, holding to my head tightly. My fingernails almost clawed into my skin.

"Max! Max!" Nudge said loudly, attempting to pry my hands away.

Why were the head explosions back? I realized I was sobbing. I hated my weakness but it hurt so bad I wasn't in control anymore. I heard a door being flung open like an echo.

_Not so loud…_

Fang ran around the table and dropped beside me. "Max!" he said. Even though he was trying to keep his cool like he had with my other brain attacks, I knew he was wondering why it was happening again. Fang is _a lot _stronger than Nudge, so he pried my fingers away from my head and pinned them to the floor.

The pain lessened a few moments later, then it was gone as quickly as it had come. I could feel Fang's arm around my shoulder, Nudge rubbing my leg, Ella holding my hand, and my mom brushing my hair away from my face as she whispered softly. I still didn't open my eyes and I cried into Fang's shoulder until I stopped. Angel and the Gasman stood staring at me with freaked out looks on their faces.

"What happened honey?" Mom asked worriedly as I opened my eyes.

"Brain attack." I answered. I sniffed and attempted to wipe the tears from my face.

Fang massaged the spot between my wings gently. I looked up and realized that Iggy had come when he heard Fang run up the stairs. He was crouching in front of me, staring at me with his sightless blue eyes.

"You ok Max?"

"Yeah." I answered shakily. Almost my entire family helped me to stand and led me into the living room. I collapsed onto the couch and hung my head in my hands. Nudge sat on one side, and my mom sat on the other, still rubbing my shoulders gently. Ella sat on the floor, and leaned her head against my knee. Fang and Iggy sat down on the coffee table in front of me.

"Was it as bad as last time?" Fang asked.

I thought about it for a minute. "The last one was so long ago, I don't even remember. I don't _think _so. I think it was that I havn't had one in so long, it was harder to take than the ones that were closer together." I breathed out as levelly as I could.

_Gosh, a soft bed and cereal with milk for a month and I'm already turning into a cream puff._

Angel and Gazzy came into the living room. Poor kids, they thought all of their problems were over since we came here.

"What happened Max?" Angel asked, running over to us.

"Another brain attack." Iggy said solemnly.

I looked up at Fang. He hand was so close to mine that I was about to reach for it, but I was startled to stop.

_Maximum, important news!_

He did NOT.

_Maximum!_

_Jeb, GET OUT OF MY HEAD! What the heck is your deal?! _

_This is important Maximum._

"Here we go again." I heard Iggy say, noticing my blank stare.

"Shh." I said, holding up my hand.

_Why are you talking to me like this? The minutes on your cell run out or something?_

_No, I'm at the School. It would put you in danger if I called the house from one of the lines, in case the Director come back and checks the records, and I forgot my cell phone. You give me a BRAIN ATTACK because you forgot your freaking CELL PHONE?! _

_Yes, but this is important Maximum! Focus!_

_Jeb! Get outta my head!_

_Ari's alive!_

My mouth dropped open, and I felt like I was falling. How? Was the only question that crossed my mind. Shouldn't he be dead? Hadn't his expiration date kicked in?

"What's going on Max?" Nudge whispered, unable to contain the question.

"Jeb said-" I faltered. "Jeb said that…Ari's alive."

I heard audible gasps from around the room. "How?" Gazzy asked disbelievingly. I had told Iggy, Fang, and Gazzy that I had seen Ari die.

_How?_

_When Ari expired, it was because his genes unraveled. Well, when he died, he wasn't buried. I've been doing testing, and to put it simply, Ari's genes are like pieces of a rope. There are normally three pieces in one rope ,normal human genetics,making him into an Eraser added an extra. Well, since that gene didn't belong, it unraveled from the rope. The rest of his human genes, what's supposed to be there, remains._

_So…Ari's all alive and all human now?_

_Yes. _He almost sounded happy, even though the device he used to communicate with me through my head gave him a monotone voice.

_I'll be there as fast as I can._

_No, meet me on Larson road, it's a few miles away from the school, I'll pick you up in a van, and bring you there myself. I don't want any of the other whitecoats to see you. Since news might get to the Director if she returns._

_And then I would be forced to kill whichever whitecoat spilled._

_Right. See you soon Maximum, I love you._

_Bye Jeb._

Even though I found out he was my father, after all that had happened I still wasn't ready to call him Dad yet, and I wasn't sure if I even loved him. At least now I didn't want to kill him…sorta. That "causing my brain attack" thing had made me just a bit annoyed.

"What'd he say?" Nudge asked.

"He said that Ari is alive. He brought him back somehow by taking away his wolf genes."

"Why did he talk to you through 'the voice'?" Fang asked, angry that I'd been caused another brain attack.

"He couldn't call from one of the lines at the School, and he forgot his _cell phone_." I answered.

"What?!" Fang said loudly, well, loudly for him. Fang has never been on the best terms with Jeb.

"Yeah, anyway, I'm going to see him. He's gonna pick me up on Larson road, and I'm going to go see Ari."

"You're going back to the school?" Fang asked disbelievingly. Even though he was trying not to show it, I could tell he was freaking out inside.

"Don't get all freaked. Since the Director disappeared, they havn't been experimenting. And since the Feds heard about Itex, they have a close eye on the place. The Director isn't telling them what to do anymore, they could probably care less about us. Besides, if a whitecoat gets within ten feet of me they're dead."

"Then can we come?" Gazzy asked a few feet away.

"No, I don't think so, Gazzy." I answered.

"Right," Fang said, "but I'm coming."

"What? No way. Jeb didn't say anything about you." Truthfully, I was afraid. I didn't want to go back to the School, but my biological half-brother was back from the dead! It would be nice to have Fang with me, but he and Ari weren't exactly on best terms. They just couldn't come.

"If it's 'oh-so-safe' then why can't we come?" Iggy asked pointedly.

Silence filled the room. "Iggy," I started.

"No way, Max." Nudge said "You're not going without us." She stood and crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Guys-" I started.

"We wanna come, Max!" Angel said, "I missed Ari, I want to see him alive too."

It was Angels comment that did me in.

"Ok." I groaned. I looked at my mom, who looked worried. "We'll be fine, Mom." I said, touching her arm. She gave me a small smile and kissed my forehead.

"Say hi to Jeb for me." Was all she said. I gave her a small smile and got up from the couch.

"Can I come?" Ella asked from the floor.

"Sorry Ella, we're going to be flying, top speed so we can meet Jeb."

She looked hurt. "We'll hang out later, and I'll tell you how it went, ok?" I said, trying to console her.

"Ok." She said. I could tell she wasn't completely ok, so I gave her a hug.


	4. Anticipating cautiously

Wind whipped my short hair into my face. It was to my shoulders, and getting in my eyes while I flew again. The flock and I were flying again after a month of living with my mom and Ella, where I hoped we could stay this time. My fear was that the Director would show herself again, and start directing Itex to continue with the bi-half plan. Then, I would be expected to do that whole "save the world" thing again.

It was a dark, rainy spring day, and after a few hours of flying next to Nudge and Angel listening to their rambling, I flew beside Fang. For once his silence didn't drive me crazy. The Gasman and Iggy flew a few yards away, talking between themselves. I looked at Fang beside me. His hair flew around his face, obscuring his dark eyes. He had the hard expression in his jaw again that had disappeared over the past month. It was the cold expression he got whenever he thought of Jeb or Ari or the school.

"Please don't try to like, kill Jeb or Ari." I said, halting the silence.

"Huh?" Fang asked, wondering why I said that so suddenly.

"Last time…well, we know how things went with you and Ari. But he was on our side till the end. And he's my brother! Please don't hold a grudge against him. He just wanted to kill us because he thought it would please Jeb. But he's my father, so now we know he doesn't want us terminated." A few minutes passed before either of us spoke again.

"Max-" he said, faltering. "Ari has almost killed me before."

I started to speak but he held up a hand silencing me. "I know, I know, he's 'good now.' He wouldn't try to kill us now, but how am I supposed to forget that?" he paused and stared angrily at the ground. "And he hurt the flock Max. A ton of times. He hurt Angel, Nudge, the Gasman, Iggy, and he hurt you, Max. I can't forget that."

That was the longest speech I've heard him utter in the past week. I really wanted to just give him a hug or something. I spotted a sign below that said Larson road.

"Down here guys." I yelled, so I could be heard above the wind. The flock started descending.

"Fang" I said quietly. "I don't expect you to forget that. All I ask is you try to get along with him." I could tell he wasn't buying it. "For my sake. Please?" I added, knowing it was the only was he would agree.

He exhaled sharply. "Ok." He said, looking me in the eye. We settled gently to the ground.

"Thank you, Fang." I said, giving him a quick hug. Him not trying to re-kill my stepbrother was kind of important to me. He wasn't a complete unbending statue and put his arms around me for a moment, before turning to the road.

As I began to follow I heard a chorus from the Flock behind me. "Aww."

I rolled my eyes at them. "Come on." I said, walking to the side of the road. We waited behind the bushes, knowing that Jeb could drive by to pick us up at any moment.

I heard Angel giggle beside me. I looked at her, and she spoke to me in my head.

_Max, guess what I just heard Fang think? _

Here we go.

_He thought that you were beautiful. Oh yeah, he also thought that he would rather be doing anything but this, and the only reason he's here is to make sure some whitecoat doesn't slice you up again. Because he really cares about you._

The flicker of a smile touched me face. I was getting way too mushy lately.

I saw Angel shiver, and Iggy must have felt her because he pulled her onto his lap into his arms. "Thank you Iggy." She said. Iggy smiled.

It was moments like this that had always kept me going. I saw Iggy slightly cock his head, signaling for me to listen as well. I heard the low rumble of a car engine and tires on gravel. We crouched lower beneath the bushes as the vehicle approached. It was a dark blue van with no emblem to identify it. I looked at the drivers seat and saw Jeb, driving slowly swiveling his head back and forth, looking for me.

I stood up so he could see me. The look of happiness that crossed his face almost hurt, knowing that I still hadn't completely forgiven him yet.

He pulled over to the side of the road, and got out of the drivers seat quickly. I stepped out from behind the trees as he jogged toward me.

"Maximum! I'm so glad to see you." He said, embracing me. I could tell he was happy, but I couldn't bring myself to give an equally enthusiastic hug back. "Let's get going, Ari is anxious to see you."

"She's not going without me." Fang said, rising from behind the bush. I look of unexpected surprise crossed Jeb's face.

"Fang, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, Max is here, why wouldn't we be?" he asked, a bit coldly.

"We?" Jeb asked

"Yeah, 'we.'" Nudge said, rising with the rest of the flock.

"You seem to have brought the whole gang." He said, surveying me and the Flock.

"Yeah." I answered. "They wouldn't let me come alone."

"Still don't trust me?" he said, directing the comment to Iggy.

"Maybe." Iggy said truthfully.

"I understand." He sighed. I could see that he really wanted to make peace with us, but how long would any peace remain when the Director showed up again? "We should get going."

I nodded and we got into the car. Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel climbed into the back, while Fang and I sat in the front with Jeb. I took the middle seat, while Fang took the window. Jeb's happiness had returned, and he was smiling as he pulled a U-ey on the deserted road, back towards the School. The place I thought I would never go to again unless I was tied up and unconscious or something like that.

**"Aww." hahha. Was the slight Faxness too much? I thought it was just enough to show that they like each other, but that their friendship remains. (which is what I'm going for, cuz when I read REALLY sappy MR fanfics I wanna yell, "THATS NOT MAX AND FANG!!! IMPOSTERS OR CLONES ARE AT WORK HERE!!!") so yeah, I'm determined to make them sort of realistic. haha **

**P.S. James patterson owns MR sigh must I type this every chapter? It's very depressing.**


	5. In the belly of the crazy, twisted beast

**Me:Do I have to? JP:yes Me: are you sure? JP: yes Me:sigh fine...he owns Maximum Ride.**

Iggy reached over my shoulder and changed the radio station for the millionth time.

"Gosh Ig, stick with one station!" I exclaimed.

"There's nothing good!"

"Why didn't you bring your ipod?" I asked, exasperated.

"Cuz I didn't think I'd be this bored!"

I heard Jeb chuckle beside me. "What?" I asked.

"Always the same." He said, smiling at me and then at Iggy. He shook his head and chuckled, keeping his eyes on the road.

I listened to Angel, Nudge, and the Gasman playing "I spy" in the back of the van. I sank back into the seat, and thought about what it would be like to see Ari again. I had a feeling I would go all cheesy and cry for the second time in one day, but I didn't want to. I leaned my head back, and closed my eyes. My hands clenched the fabric of my jeans. Why was I so tense?

It must have been because I was willingly going to the most horrible place on earth.

I stared at the car ceiling blankly. After a moment, I looked beside me at Fang. He had stayed silent this entire ride.

_Shocker._

I could tell that he was dreading going back to the school as much as I was, and he had come here just to make sure I was safe. I didn't need him to take care of me or anything, I was just sort of glad that he cared that much. Before I thought about it, I laced my fingers through his. He looked away from the window at me in surprise. My cheeks reddened, and I regretted the reflex. I was surprised when I felt his fingers tighten around my hand. He nonchalantly straightened in his seat and quickly whispered in my ear.

"I swear I won't try to kill Ari."

I smiled at him.

"Ok, we're almost there." Jeb said suddenly. "I'm going to need all of you to get down in the back so the security cameras don't see you."

"Why?" Nudge asked from the back of the van.

"Because, if the Director comes back, she'll have all of the tapes checked."

Nudge looked frightened for a moment then sank down in the back. I climbed over the back of my seat in the front and sat down next to and took her and Gazzy's hands. She gave me a nervous smile.

"Ok, everybody down!" Jeb said a few moments later. We simultaneously hit the floor, and stayed as close together in the back as humanly possible. Or as mutantly possible if you want to get picky about it.

We heard Jeb pressing access codes as he drove into a huge hangar. He had told us the plan on the way there. Jeb parked, got out of the car, got into a small vehicle with a covered trunk, drove next to the van, and we slipped inside. None of us dared to speak. Surprisingly, not even Nudge.

A moment of panic crossed my mind that maybe Jeb had gone all evil and was taking us to be experimented on again. Before I could begin to hyperventilate, we felt the vehicle stop. We heard elevator-like doors whoosh open, and Jeb opened the trunk.

"Out! Quick!" he whispered. We would be out of there like a tightly coiled spring out of the confined space anyway. We leaped out of the back and into a narrow hallway. I could see a door at the other end. "Hurry, this way." He said. Gazzy and Angel held hands as we strode to the doorway. "We're safe here." Jeb said as he typed in the eight digit code to unlock the door. "I disabled all the cameras when I started the experiments to bring Ari back." Jeb smiled as the door opened and strode into the room. I stood frozen in my spot. I didn't exactly know why. I felt six hands gently push me forward. I took a deep breath and began following Jeb.

It smelled like antiseptic as I crossed the main room. Angel held her nose, unable to bear the smell. Iggy and Fang were practically twitching.

_In just a minute I'm going to see my brother again. Back from the dead. Don't start to cry Maximum. You really have to get that under control._

Jeb jogged over to the door and knocked five times before calling, "Ari, we're here." He took my hand and led me into the room.


	6. Reunion

My heart seemed to skip a beat as I saw the figure sitting at the round table in the corner of the small room turn around. My breath lodged in my throat.

_Don't cry. Don't cry._

Ari stood up and a small smile crossed his face. He took a deep breath.

"Hi Max." he said, unknowing if I had forgiven him for the past. I stood in silence for a moment, trying to force my lips to say "Hi Ari." But instead, I ran across the room and threw myself into my brother's arms, sobbing. I felt his arms come around me as I cried.

_Stupid Max, you've gone to the cream puff side._

"I'm back, Max. I'm really back." He said softly. I pulled away from him and nodded,

giving a chocked laugh.

He may have tried to kill me on multiple occasions, and we had hated each other before, but now we were siblings and we had an understanding between us.

He smiled at me, and wiped the tears from one of my cheeks.

"No more morphing and wings?" I asked, letting him go.

"Nope, all human."

I nodded, still smiling at him. I turned my head and saw Jeb coming toward us. To make

the Kodak moment complete, he wrapped his arms around me and Ari, his kids, turning it into a group hug. If I wasn't still crying and in complete disbelief I probably would have made some sarcastic comment about how cheesy this was, but for now, I have to admit that I enjoyed it.

The Flock hung back by the door, unsure of what to do. Angel was the first to walk across the room to Ari. "Hi Ari." She said timidly.

"Hi Angel!" He said brightly, giving her a big hug.

I cleared my throat, trying to clear the thickness in it from crying.

Ari's greeting to Angel loosened up the rest of the Flock into coming over. Except Fang.

Gazzy was second. "Sorry bout that whole…splitting up the Flock thing. It was just me and Angel, and we had to make it even 'n stuff.."

Ari smiled braodly. "It's okay Gasman."

Nudge was next. "Hi Ari." She said shakily. Nudge can occasionally easily cry during touching moments like this. She hugged him quickly as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

Iggy kept a bit of a distance, being all "macho hold-a-grudge tough guy" like Fang.

Ari walked to Iggy, and touched his arm. Iggy slightly flinched back, away from Ari's touch. Ari looked a bit hurt, but that he understood the reaction at the same time.

He looked straight at Iggy, even though he knew he couldn't see him. "Things are different now." It was his way of apologizing to Iggy without getting all sappy about it. Ari held out his hand, and Iggy reached out and shook it as if he could see it perfectly.

Fang was last, and he was still standing in the doorway. Ari stopped a few steps in front of Fang, and they seemed to stare each other down.

_Fang, you promised…_

Fang sighed and met Ari halfway.

"So, how does it feel being back?" Fang asked quietly, clearing his throat.

"Pretty good." Ari said, holding out his arms.

Fang stared at him a bit longer, seeming to sum up Ari and all of his intentions in one look. He held out his hand to Ari.

Ari smiled and clapped his hand into Fang's. "No hard feelings." He said shaking it. Fang nodded.

I could tell that Fang was trying _so hard _to get along with Ari. After he shook Ari's hand, he seemed to shoot me a look that said, _This is for you, you know._

Thank you, I mouthed.

He gave me another look that seemed so say, _If he tries to kill me this time, he's going down…but I'll deal with him for now. Just for you. And, you owe me BIG time._

That's when I realized that I hadn't been reading Fang's look. I had been hearing him.

_Inside my head._

**Come on, admit it, you're happy non-evil Ari is back. At the end of MR 3 I'm like, screaming in my head "HE CAN'T DIE WHEN HE'S GOOD!! JEB, BRING HIM BACK, I KNOW U CAN!!!!" **


	7. So much for peaceful, happy moments

**James Patterson owns MR, but this is my fanfic, so please no copying.**

I stood frozen for a moment, realizing what had just happened. Jeb startled me out of my shock.

"How are you doing Max?"

I refrained from asking "About Ari, or Fang's powers?" and replied. "Yeah. I'm Ok. Just…big change in a few hours."

"Yes." Jeb replied softly, gazing at his son. "For a while…I thought I would be unsuccessful. Ari's life was in my hands…and now, he's human. 'Average.'" He chuckled. "Everything he's ever wanted."

"But he won't be able to get his childhood back." I said before thinking, spoiling Jeb's happiness. Why did I have to do that? I just felt sorry for Ari. He still looked like a rough twenty-one year old.

Jeb appeared sad for a moment, ashamed that he had let Ari get experimented on in the first place.

"But better alive, right?" I amended.

Jeb's small smile returned and he nodded. Ari came over to us after talking a few minutes to Iggy. He just looked so happy I felt tears rise to my eyes again, for what, the _tenth _time today?!

Ari put his arm around me. "So, big sis…or should I say little sis…" he said, putting his hand on top of my head. I was at least six inches shorter than he was.

I shot him a glare. It didn't phase his wide grin at all, and I had to laugh.

Jeb laughed at us and walked away towards Nudge.

Ari distracted me from my thoughts of Fang's new power.

"Are you still flying wild, or somewhere stable now?" Ari asked me.

"Stable. For once, but who knows for how long. We're actually living with Dr.Martinez now."

Ari whistled. "All six of you? That's some brave woman."

I playfully shoved him in the shoulder, and he laughed. I glanced up and saw Fang staring at us, looking like he was waiting for Ari to rip my head off. I shot him a look that told him to chill out.

Ari led us over to the couch in the right side of the room. It was covered by a slightly scratchy red blanket. We sat down and Ari scrutinized my face as I observed my flock, talking with Jeb or among themselves, respectfully giving Ari and I some space to talk.

My eyes lingered on Fang, who was leaning against a wall, watching Angel and Gazzy's game of "rock, paper, scissors" just in case a dispute over whether paper really does beat rock broke out as usual. He tossed his head, flipping his long black hair out of his eyes.

After a moment, I settled back into the couch and pulled my knees up to my chest and leaned on the armrest, facing Ari. He had a look of amusement on his face. Not his look over the past hour of being happy to be _alive_, but one like he knew something.

He chuckled and leaned toward me.

"Are you two finally going out or what?" he asked bluntly. So much for being all cryptic and/or beating around the bush.

"Huh?" I asked, shocked.

"You, Fang. It's always been obvious you were into him, especially now the way your eyes are practically boring holes into his head."

I paused for a moment out of indignation. "Fang and I aren't _going out_."

Ari rolled his eyes at me. "Come on, Max. I'm back from the dead."

"What does that have to do with this?"

"I know the answer, and this is a big occasion, so it would be cool and it would make me happy if you would just come out with it already."

I sighed. "Fine. Fang and I are _not _going out. It's not like that, it's just…complicated."

"But you like him. A lot. Don't worry, he's head over heels for you. It's almost sickening."

My head jerked toward him. "How would you know?"

He leaned forward and whispered. "I may be human now Max, but that doesn't mean I'm not an experiment. I have a _power_ now."

Whoa. _That _was unexpected.

I gasped softly. "What is it?" I asked anxiously.

"Ok, well, you know how before Jeb brought me back I was so full of a ton of different feelings? Well, when Jeb brought me back, and took away my Eraser DNA, something had to re-manifest itself where the Eraser genes were, because my body was so used to it. Now, I can sort of…feel people's feelings. Other than that, I'm completely normal, but still, I feel like a comic book superhero or something." He said, smiling.

His remark about feeling like a "comic book superhero" reminded me that he was really only eight years old. He looked around twenty one, and he still looked at bit rough from being an Eraser, but he didn't look nearly as bad as before. He seemed like a twenty-one-year-old, he was definitely a lot smarter than a normal eight-year-old. The only times you could tell was when he did small things like used "comic book superhero."

"Wow. That's great Ari!"

"I know!" he whispered excitedly. "It's awesome! When I woke up, I could sorta feel Dad's emotions like a heater radiating onto me. It was so weird and awesome at the same time. Right now you're happy."

I smiled. "Yeah, no duh." I said. "I'm happy to have back Ari version 2.0, without the Flock mutilation instincts."

He gave me a small smile. "Do you think they'll ever forgive me for that?"

"I think Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel already have. I think Iggy will get there pretty soon. You're going to have some problems with Fang actually forgiving you, but he promised not to be hostile."

"On the outside. On the inside? Yikes. I few minutes ago before he shook my hand he was _so _mad."

"He's not exactly Mr.Happy Sunshine."

Ari chuckled. "Nah. Definitely not."

Suddenly, I heard a beeping sound coming from the wall on the left side of the room. I looked up and saw Jeb's head whip toward it.

"Everyone, against the wall, quick!" He said frantically in a loud whisper, pointing at the left wall. He ran to it, placing himself in front of something hanging against the wall covered by a jacket. The rest of the Flock and Ari immediately flung themselves to the wall. What was going on? I had no idea. But if Jeb said to go against a wall while we were at the _School_? We would obey without question.

We slammed into the wall almost simultaneously. I stood between Nudge and Ari. Nudge reached for my hand and held it in a death grip. I squeezed it back. Jeb stood in front of the thing on the wall, making sure we were all against the wall. He raised a finger to his lips, making sure we could all see it.

"It's probably just one our scientists, but like I said, when the Director returns, she'll check the tapes." He whispered. He reached up and yanked the jacket off the wall. It has been hanging over a video screen. It continued to beep until Jeb reached up and touched a button on the screen.

"Call from main office." An electronic voice said.

"Accept." He said firmly.

The screen beeped and I heard someone begin to speak. A look of slight alarm crossed Jeb's face. Then the person on the other end of the call began to speak. I knew who it was immediately. The woman specially put on earth to ruin my life.

The Director.

**DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNNN...suspensful or what? Be happy I'm not making you wait for the next chapter or two, cuz I like them, and I hope you will too )**


	8. More like Director of crazy all right

**JP owns**

**I listened to the "Alex Rider:Operation Stormbreaker" soundtrack while writing this, so if you can get your hands on it, I'd advise listening to "Uncle Ian" or "Chinese Burn" (I don't own Alex Rider or the soundtrack either) It's awesome action music to write by )**

"Hello Jeb." She said levelly, a hint of contempt fringing her voice. "So nice to see you again."

My blood boiled, yet I felt cold. Hatred welled up inside me, making me want to fling myself away from the wall, find wherever she was, and tear her apart with my bare hands. But I stayed against the wall silently.

"Director." Jeb gulped, surprised. "You look well."

I felt Nudge's hand stiffen in mine. I heard the Director chuckle coldly.

"Thank you Jeb. You're probably wondering why I've returned."

"Just a bit." He answered, slight sarcasm fringing his voice, barely noticeable.

"Well, you see, Jeb. I don't like my experiments to be taken from my grasp so easily."

"They weren't taken, they escaped on their own. Not to mention, your robot army was terminated singlehandedly by an army of three of 'your experiments.'" Jeb said with contempt. I could practically feel Iggy's grin radiating on me at the memory.

"Oh them? My _new _army is better. Much better. And I'm going to retrieve those pests to lead it."

"What makes you think they'll lead it?"

"Don't you mean, 'what makes me _know _they'll lead it?' Modifications can be made Jeb. It's either modification or termination for them."

_I'd rather die._

"I'm sure they'd rather die." Jeb stated like it was nothing.

_Go Jeb! _

I heard the director laugh coldly. She sounded like a supervillain on a cheesy movie.

"Same old Jeb. Always so protective. You're much too easily attatched. They _will _be retrieved and they _will _be modified. Death would be a blessing to them."

"What makes you think you'll even be able to find them?" he said venomously.

The Director continued, cold laughter fringing her voice. "Oh Jeb. You've always overestimated your ability to protect them. I know for a fact that they're right under my nose. This time _I will not fail._"

The screen went blank.

"Alright. Move. Now!" Fang said loudly. All eight of us began running towards the door. Before we reached it, we heard an explosion and it flew toward us.

"Duck!" Angel screamed. All of us hit the floor.

A moment later the dust cleared, and to my horror I saw the shadows of people entering the room. Actually, worse than people. They were completely _inhuman_. It was the Director with her new army. Flyboys filed into the room.

"You will not escape." They droned emotionlessly

_Here we go again. _

I heard a growl rip from Fang's throat as he tackled a flyboy. It hadn't even registered him coming.

I was up second, throwing myself into combat with the next one through the door. They were faster, I had to give them that, but nothing for the Director to brag so much about. The rest of the Flock and Jeb and Ari were defending themselves the best they could. The Director stood by the door, observing 'her' creations, old and new. She looked pleased.

It made me sick.

If I hadn't been fighting the stupid machine in front of me, I would have loved to have shoved her against the wall and gotten my hands around her skinny white neck and pressed hard.

They were surrounding us now. It would be impossible to win. But not impossible to run.

"Run on three!" I yelled above the noise.

Ari and Jeb were accustomed to our "countdown" so they knew what I was talking about.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the director pull a walkie talkie from her hip and start screaming into it.

We gathered together in a clump just as I screamed "One!"

The eight of us took the Flyboys by surprise and shoved our way through them out the main double door all at once. We ran down the hall as fast as we could.

As I ran, I did a head count.

_Seven. Me, eight. All good._

The hallway was too narrow for out wings, so we couldn't fly. The vehicle Jeb had sneaked us in with was gone, so we'd have to run all the way out. And then there was the issue of Ari and Jeb who didn't have _wings_. Fang reached the door at the end of the hall first and flung himself through. He grabbed one side and held it open. I was right behind him and grabbed the other side. The other six ran through the doors. The Flyboys were halfway down the hall, since we'd gotten a head start. I could still hear the Director screaming into her walkie talkie over the drumming of the Flyboy's boots against the concrete floor. I actually smirked. Jeb was wildly looking around for something to jamb the door with. His eyes landed in the stairs that led to a lower level of the complex.

"Help me!" he said, grasping the railing. We sprinted over, and all eight of us together, we actually yanked it off of it's screws. We slammed it through the door handles just as the flyboys reached it. The Metal railing was four inches thick. It would hold for about…twelve seconds? Tops?

"Go!" I heard Iggy yell.

"This way!" Jeb yelled. "The cars are this way!" He took off down a hall and we followed without question. We could hear the flyboys trying to break the door down, then gunfire. They were most likely shooting at the door, trying to get it to open.

We ran down the hallway like maniacs. We burst through the doors into the hangar just as we heard the door the Flyboys were behind crash to the ground.

A stray piece of metal was actually just lying next to the doorway. It seemed too convenient, but I truly didn't care. Ari and I slid it through the handles like before. This piece was even thicker.

Jeb leaped into a sleek red Mercedes. Ari clambered into the passenger seat. The flock began piling into the back. Fang and I stood outside, realizing how easy it would be for them to tell which way we went.

Fang eyed a car a few yards away that could only be compared to the Batmobile. "I'll lead them off in this!" he said loudly to Jeb.

"No!" Jeb protested.

"He's right! They'll follow you too easily. We'll lead them off." I said hastily.

"We'll?" Jeb and Fang questioned in unison.

"Yeah, I'm coming with you." I said to Fang. "We gotta move fast, where are the keys?"

Jeb stammered, unsure if he should be doing this. "It takes a code. 8472964. It hasn't even been road tested yet!" Jeb protested, worried. Each passing second the Flyboys were getting closer to breaking down the door.

"We'll road test it!" I yelled. "We have to go, now!" I saw the look of fear for me and Fang's safety on the Gasman's face in the back seat. "We'll be fine."

Fang and I sprinted toward the car. "I'm driving!" he said as we ran.

"Why do you get to drive?" I protested loudly as we reached it.

"Cuz I'm the better driver." He replied. He leaped up and slid across the hood to the driver's side.

"Show off." I muttered, climbing into the passenger side.

**FANG DID A HOOD SLIDE!! I _LOVE_ those...hahah. So Fang just HAD to do it, cuz he rocks that hard. D**


	9. Hot cars and splattered Flyboys

**JP owns MR**

**To the Fangmobile!!! (I love the Batmobile, coolest car EVER) maybe besides Herbie...JK! lol **

**I was grinning like a maniac while writing this. What Fang is doing in the next few paragraphs is my DREAM! (no joke, I detest Flyboys and I love fast cars ) hahah. My friends who are reading this are rolling their eyes right now thinking "You never change, you nut" hahaha. P.S. listen to some loud upbeat music while reading this to get the full effect, like "Me against the world" by Simple Plan (which I don't own either) (I LOVE that song) Okay, i promise, I'm done, now read and REVIEW!!!!!**

He was already pressing the code buttons on a pad next to the wheel. If you're wondering what the car looks like, just picture the Batmobile and there it is _exactly_. It probably even had missles and everything.

Jeb, driving the red Mercedes, sped past us and out of the hangar. I knew the only reason he had gone was to protect the Flock and Ari. He was probably flipping out inside that he'd left me behind. That wasn't my concern now.

The metal door to the hangar hit the ground with a loud reverberating thud. Flyboys filed out quickly.

"What do you say we have some fun?" Fang said, winking at me mischievously, a slight grin on his face.

I smiled wide when I realized what he had in mind. This thing looked indestructible, why not?

"Hit it!" I yelled.

"Yeah Baby!" Fang yelled, throwing the car into 'run' and speeding straight into the throng of Flyboys.

"Yeah Baby!" is not something Fang would normally yell…even if he did happen yell a lot. He was just _really _happy to be in a car like this one, running over Flyboys.

We laughed maniacally and whooped loudly as the heard the thunks of Flyboys hitting the side and hood of the car. Watching them try to dive out of the way was hysterical.

We probably would have continued this if another line of Flyboys hadn't emerged from the building holding _machine guns_.

"Uh oh." Fang muttered, pulling a fast U-ey away from the crowd of mutilated flyboys. The car skidded to the side, making the tires smoke as they crossed over the pavement.

He gunned it and we sped out of the hangar at at least eighty miles an hour. We heard the sound of bullets hitting the side of the car. They actually ricocheted off. This thing really _was _indestructible.

"Let's see what this thing can do!" I said, gripping the sides of my seat. Fang pressed harder on the pedal as we sped down the deserted road. "By the way, if you crash us, you're dead."

"What'll you do if we crashed and you died?" he asked.

"My ghost would haunt you forever." I answered conversationally.

"Forever with you?" he asked incredulously, faking a shudder. "I'll be extra careful. I swear I won't crash."

I scowled at him and he grinned, risking a glance away from the road.

"You should slow down so they actually have a chance to follow us instead of Jeb." I said.

Fang nodded and almost sadly let up on the gas. We slowed to a "crawl" of seventy-nine. A grin broke his face. "Was that funny or what?"

"Getting chased or those thunks of Flyboys hitting the windshield like bugs?" I asked with a smirk.

Fang chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "That was awesome."

Somehow almost getting killed had loosened him up. He's crazy.

He was smiling as he drove, and the storm clouds outside didn't look so bleak anymore.

"Come on, admit it." He said after a brief silence.

"Admit what?"

"That I'm the better driver." He said smugly.

"Yeah right." I said, rolling my eyes. I realized that I still hadn't asked Fang about his power yet.

"Hey, Fang?" I said casually after a minute of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Is there, um, something you havn't been telling the Flock about?"

He looked confused. "As in?"

"Umm…like, a power or something?"

"What?!" he said. "Why would you think I had a power? It is just because everyone has one but me and you think I'm hiding it?"

"No." I said hastily. "You have one, Fang."

His face went blank. "How would you know?"

"Because…I heard you. Inside my head. And I know it wasn't me who was doing it."

"When did you hear me?" he asked nonchalantly like this was perfectly normal.

"Earlier when you were talking to Ari. You thought that you were doing it just for me."

Fang's face was dark. I could tell he was thinking very hard, trying to digest this.

"See if you can read my mind." I said.

"Uhh…ok." He said. It was a straight shot down the deserted road, and he let up on the gas before staring into my eyes, concentrating intently.

_Come on, come on. _I heard it inside my head!

He looked back to the road. "I couldn't see or hear anything."

"But I could hear you!" I burst out. "Fang, I think you can send me thoughts!"

"That's weird." He responded.

"Yeah. Angel can do that, but she can _read _minds too. That's strange."

"No," Fang interjected. "well, yeah. But why would my power be being able to _talk _to people in their heads?"

I had to laugh out loud. "You're right. It's not very 'you.'"

He shrugged. "Ok, cool. I can talk in people's heads now. Big whop."

"Do you _not _want to be able to talk into people's heads?"

Fang smirked. "No, I mean, if I can't actually read minds, how does that help the Flock? Besides, we already have enough mind reading for the six of us." He said, referring to Angel.

"Yeah." I agreed. "But who knows, maybe you'll get another one."

"Like what?" he asked, amused.

"Like…I don't know. Something useful. And more 'you.'"

"Well, if I turn invisible, just let me know." He said, amusement fringing his voice.

"That _would _be very 'you.'"

"Ok, can you stop saying 'you' like that please? It's getting on my nerves."

"Fine." I chuckled. Silence filled the machine besides the engine as it began working harder as Fang sped up.

I began thinking. Usually whenever one of the flock got a new power, if they had another coming, it usually showed up soon after. Maybe Fang already _had _another power he didn't know about yet.

"Hey Fang?"

"Yeah?"

"Try using a power." I said.

"Why?" he asked bluntly.

"Because. Angel got hit by a wave of new powers at one point, maybe it's sort of happening to you and you have a new power you don't know about yet."

Fang looked at me incredulously and shrugged. He his right hand off of the wheel and began snapping his fingers.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to see if fire comes out of my hands." He said, smirking.

It _did _sound far-fetched, but then I realized that having wings was far fetched. There were no shocks about how weird things could be anymore.

"Try…seeing through the dashboard. Maybe you'll have X-ray vision." Yes, I _know _how ridiculous I sounded, thank you very much.

Fang stared at the dashboard intently for a moment. He squinted at it and then blinked, realizing he didn't have X-ray vision. "Any more bright ideas?" he asked.

I could tell he was trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

Suddenly Fang said, "Let's see if I can fly."

"Ok." I said nodding. I realized what he'd done and scowled at him.

His smile lit up the vehicle and he chuckled softly. "That was too easy." He muttered softly to himself.

**hahah, i was running through the "normal" superpowers in my head and thought of flight, and I'm like, umm...wings? **

**So I had to find a way into tricking one of them into guessing that without thinking about it . heehee. **

**P.S. I love reviews even if you're telling me I need 2 improve, cuz how am I supposed to know if I should or not? My friends read stuff that I write all the time that I think is horrible and they love. So, give me your opinions so I know if this is icky ) lol.**

**P.S.S. Or if you feel the need to praise my amazing genius, go right ahead. HAHAH, JK! JK!! D **


	10. Machine guns in the tires!

I crossed my arms and leaned back, angry that I had fallen for his stupid trick. I glanced in the rearview mirror, realizing the last time I had was five minutes ago.

At least twenty black sedans were following us.

_Black sedans. Ugh. You'd think after all this time they'd be less cliché'._

"Ok, twenty black sedans are tailing us, and their engines are obviously built for speed."

Fang nodded grimly. A look of pleasure crossed his face.

"They're no match for the Fangmobile."

"What?!"

"Do you _want _them to catch us or something?"

"No, I mean, the 'Fangmobile'? No way."

A video screen on the dashboard began to flicker.

"We'll discuss the name later." Fang said.

If he honestly thought I would let him call this the 'Fangmobile' he was sadly mistaken.

Jeb's face flickered to life in the screen.

"Max? Fang? Can you hear me? I repeat, can you hear or see me?" he said.

I turned it toward me.

"Yeah Jeb, we're here. We're fine." I looked over at the speedometer. It read one-twenty. My eyes widened. "We're safe…to some extent. We have about twenty black sedans following us though, but that's good because they think everyone is in this car. Fang and I were just trying to think of a plan to lose them."

Jeb sighed with a pained look on his face. "I wish Iggy had gone with you. Only two cars were able to follow us, and luckily Iggy had a few bombs on hand."

I rolled my eyes and grinned. "Way to go, Ig!" I said loudly so he could hear.

"Thanks Max!" I heard him call from the back seat.

"So, where are you guys right now? Everybody okay?" I asked Jeb. I could see scenery moving by fast through his window.

Jeb squinted at the road and looked out his window. "Just a second Max."

Ari reached over and turned the screen towards himself. "Hey Max, Dad's on a difficult road." I'm not exactly sure where we are, but nobody's on our tail." The screen began to get fuzzy.

_Great. _

"Ok, um," I said, trying to think and talk quickly before we lost our connection. "I think the highway is practically deserted, we'll lose them on there. Ask Jeb if this thing has any weapons."

Ari asked Jeb. "Okay, he said yes. He said a manual should be in the compartment under your seat."

"A manual?" I said questioningly. This thing seemed a bit too high-tech and…experimental to have a manual.

Ari shrugged. "The whitecoats need to know how to work it too. We're breaking up Max, be careful."

"You too, Ari. Tell the Flock to be careful too."

"You got it." He said. The screen went blank.

I turned to Fang. "Can I drive now?"

"Do you expect me to stop, get out, and most likely get attacked by Flyboys just so you can drive?"

I put on a fake thoughtful face.

"No." was his swift reply.

"Great." I muttered. "Now I have to find out where the weapons are in this stupid manual." I reached under my seat and pulled out a book that was at least four inches thick. My eyes widened.

"Hey, um, Fang, what would you say to just winging it?" I asked sheepishly.

"Very punny, Max." he replied. "They'd shoot us down easy."

I nodded. "Our only shot now is losing them all on the highway."

"Or blowing them to smithereens."

"That too." I sighed and opened the enormous manual.

I felt a sudden jolt, and realized one of our pursuers had tried to ram us from behind. I saw Fang's chest slam into the steering wheel, as I was dearly decapitated my seatbelt Fang. I couldn't hear what he said, but I had a feeling he swore under his breath. He whipped his head around, giving the scratchless Sedan behind us a death glare.

I looked forward and realized a panel slid up when Fang had slammed into the wheel. An electronic voice said, "Select defense options."

My eyes widened. Who needed some stupid manual!

I reached forward and started pressing random things until I came to a menu. Fang reached out to touch an option. "Two hands on the wheel at all times!" I said loudly. We were at least going at at least one-forty.

Fang obediently put his hands back on the wheel. "Does this thing have warp drive or something?" he asked.'

I scrolled through the menu. "Nothing about warp drive. Wait a sec, ok, you're gonna love this. You can watch but you have to _promise _to drive straight. Remember that thing about my ghost?"

Fang nodded. This was going to be too good.

I pressed the button looking in the rearview mirror. The car beeped as water sprayed out of a jet built into the back of the car. It was like a power washer, but like a power washer that was like Nudge on coffee. Deathly and out of control. It actually stopped the car and entered through the grill and sprayed through the air conditioning vents. It's a bit hard to describe, but basically, we ended up watching four Flyboys driving the car behind us shorting out. The car without a driver skidded across the damp road, taking two others with it. Fang grinned. Suddenly, the sound of machine gun fire graced my ears.

_Great. _

Adrenaline began pumping through my system, putting me on high alert. The Flyboys were getting more aggressive. Through the rearview mirror I could see them with their glowing red eyes bearing down on us. That's when I realized what was going on. They had been toying with us this whole time, this wasn't nearly all they had.

A car on our right began speeding to our side, perhaps to knock us off the road. Fang swerved a bit to the left as I rapidly looked through weapons menus on the panel in front of me. A slightly maniacal grin crossed my face. I pressed one of the buttons hard.

To our right we heard the sound of exploding tires. The car swerved on the wet road and into the trees, flipping as it entered the woods.

"How did you do that?" Fang asked with surprise, constantly adding more pressure to the pedal.

"This thing was guns in the _tires_!"

I heard machine gun fire and ducked instinctively. A Flyboy in the car behind us was shooting and not wasting any time. A few bullet ricoched off the back, but one must have found a weak point in the back windshield because it shattered, spilling broken glass chips across Fang and me.

"That's it." I heard Fang mutter. He reached over and threw the car into the next gear.

The Flyboys were going to do anything to capture us, especially with the Director at their head. The highway exit was coming up ahead, and we swerved onto it, just missing a metal barrier. It luckily wasn't very busy, but the few people driving on it got out of the way as fast as possible.

The Sedans were fast, I could tell the Flyboys were giving it all they had now, but the…"Fangmobile" was obviously faster. They fanned out across the highway behind us, tailing us, occasionally knocking into us.

"We have to lose them." I stated.

"No, really? I had no clue." Fang muttered, obviously ticked. "Any ideas?"

I scrolled through the weapons menus. "I can't find anything that would help us out this second."

Suddenly, the car lurched as something heavy landed on our roof. I heard another thunk, and another. I whipped my head around and saw two Flyboys trying to climb into the car through our back window.

"Fang!" I shrieked. They Flyboys were swarming the car, trying to get in.

He gritted his teeth and looked back. He whipped his head around, locking his hands around the wheel. "Hang on!" he yelled.


	11. Stupid persistent hunks of metal

**Ok, I was mean for that cliffie. It wasn't nice for me to leave off with Fang yelling, "Hang on!" And I apologize for that. I had to stop the chapter somewhere. shrug Might as well have been a place to keep you on the edge of your seats D Oh yeah, I broke 400 hits!! WoOtZ!!!!!!! I've been like, happy dancing for the past two days. You guys rock! Please tell your friends and last but now least, COMMENT. I LOVE COMMENTS. Even if you're telling me you hate it, I still love comments! (Ok, I must admit, I like comments saying that this thing rocks like you've been saying so far, but if it really does stink I want to know. lol) **

**This chapter is dedicated to Jaina-la! aka on here, relientk-ismyescape. I put in a teeny bit of Faxness just for her. ****Ok, I must admit, and for me too. Fang and Max are the best. D lol.**

**Allrighty, I promise, without any further Nudge-like rambling, drum roll CHAPTER 11!!!**

Fang spun the wheel, skidding around. The Flyboys were literally thrown off of the car. Fang barreled the car forward at kamikaze speed toward the line of Flyboy infested Sedans. They swerved out of the way. Obviously some self preservation technology had been installed since last time.

As we shot forward, I screamed loudly, "Woo-hoo! Yeah!" A grin broke my face as the Flyboys tried to turn around in their cars and ended up in what looked like a pile of cars at a monster truck rally. Unfortunately, three quickly made their way out of the mess and continued after us. We sped down the deserted highway in tense silence, trying to think of some way out of being captured. If we continued driving, they might be able to catch us. If we flew, we would be shot down, or captured by Flyboys. As you can tell, we were at an impasse.

Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Fang, this thing is basically indestructible right?" I asked.

"Yeah, except for the back window apparently."

"Ok, here's what we gotta do."

Fang slowly nodded as I detailed my plan.

The problem was, the Flyboys had obviously been holding back, so we had no idea what they could do now. Despite our "cockiness" as Jeb called it, we weren't idiots. We had to lose them. The three cars were closing in, two trying to get on both sides of us, another behind.

According to plan, Fang veered to the right into the woods. We were jostled around as the car slammed against tree trunks, but Fang tried to keep us from hitting them as much as possible. Over the noise of the thunks, I heard the sound of a car following us.

_Persistent stupid Flyboys!_

The underbrush got denser, and the tree trunks got wider. Suddenly, a car was on our left, I could see the Flyboy driving it. I slammed one of the defense buttons and the tires did that machine gun thing and that car was gone, baby. I almost wanted to grin. Fang on the other hand was gritting his teeth, a mask of tension covering his face. I almost wanted to ask if I could drive, to lighten his mood.

"Do we have any idea where we're going?" I asked.

"No clue. Away from them." He said sharply.

"Good."

Fang was concentrating hard on not hitting any trees. The car wouldn't get a scratch on it, but we might get a little whip-lash, which isn't great when you're trying to fly. Trust me on this one. I rose a bit higher in my seat to see if any more Flyboys were following us. A car was coming up fast on our right, so I reached for the "machine gun tires" button again. I pressed it, and nothing happened.

"Fang, the machine guns aren't working." I said urgently.

"Any more ideas?"

"None at the moment." I said worriedly, glancing back at the accelerating car. We were ahead of it, and we were obviously faster, maybe we would be able to lose it…

No such luck.

Suddenly, it was right beside us, and the Flyboy who was driving began aiming a machine gun for our window.

I knew the windows were bulletproof. For one bullet maybe. A round of Flyboy ammunition? Not a chance. First I'd be hit, then Fang. That wouldn't happen. Not now.

Time seemed to move in slow motion, and on fast-forward at the same time. I pressed the buttons that would release Fang and my seatbelts, then the one to open his door, even though I had no idea that I knew which buttons they were. Before Fang could react, I heard the sound of the first bullet, seeming like it was an echo in the distance. I leaped from my seat, throwing us out of the car, and tackling Fang to the ground. I heard the sound of breaking glass as we rolled over the fortunately soft underbrush, carrying our momentum. I heard the unexpected sound of scraping metal, and then a large splash. I didn't know where the Flyboy's car had gone.

We were silent, breathing heavily.

"I think they drove off a cliff." Fang whispered in my ear, which wasn't hard because I was lying beside him.

I nodded, shaking slightly with adrenaline. "Good thing we didn't keep going." I said with a nervous chuckle.

Fang smirked. "Thanks Max." he said, still whispering. He still lay on his back, trying to make his heart slow.

"For what?" I asked.

"For tackling me out of the car and pretty much saving my life."

I sat up, putting a hand to my slightly pounding head. "Normally you'd kill me for tackling you out of a car. Anyway, we wouldn't have gotten this far without your mad driving skills."

Fang slightly smiled. "Admit it."

"Admit what?"

"I'm the better driver."

"Fine. You could race NASCAR, okay?" I said begrudgingly.

Fang sat up. He chuckled, brushing my blonde hair behind my ear. "Just, thanks Max." he said, kissing my cheek softly. I smiled. Not _at _him, because that would make his ego grow even more, but I had to smile.

Fang stood, brushing his hands on his black cargo pants. He offered me a hand to help me up, and I took it. He saw me wince as I stood.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." I replied bluntly, flexing my arm. It was sore. "I'll be fine."

"Unfortunately, I think we're gonna have to ditch the Fangmobile." Fang said a bit sadly.

"Well, at least you'll still have me to help you cope with the extreme loss." I said sarcastically.

At that, we tied our jackets around our waists, doing a quick up, up, and away before we were spotted and almost killed for the millionth time in our lives.

**Oo What did you guys think? I know some of you are thinking, "NOOO YOU CAN'T DITCH THE FANGMOBILE!!!!!!" Well, first of all, it was distracting you guys from FANG (Who is much better than the car that I actually "own." My car, so no stealing) ( I unfortunately do not own Fang.) Second, I promise I'll try to find some way to reunite Fang withe the Fangmobile later, K?? DON'T HURT ME!!!! **

**Oh yeah, PLEASE REVIEW!! And tell people you know about this so they can review too. As you know, I love reviews D Reviews are the best things since tin foil, and that's saying alot. D**


	12. Flight of the escape kind

It was getting dark, and Fang and I had been combing the nearby hills for Jeb's car for hours now. It was obvious we weren't going to find them anytime soon, so we went back to mom's (our) house. Surprisingly, when we landed there, we saw Jeb's Mercedes in the driveway. Fang bounded up the front steps to the door, and I followed quickly.

The door was locked, but less than three seconds after Fang knocked, Nudge flew (figuratively) through the door, throwing her arms around Fang.

"I thought you guys were dead by now or something! I was sooooo worried. Did you get chased long? Did you fly back? What happened to the car? Are you guys okay?"

Fang, who was being a statue during this rant, decided to make a deal. "Nudge, if I hug you back will you shut up so we can go inside?"

Nudge nodded vigorously. She had been very worried about us. That and the fact that Fang _never _hugged anyone.

Fang leaned down and gently wrapped his arms around Nudge. Fang could tell she had been pretty freaked out today.

"Thanks Fang." She whispered, letting his go. I know this is going to sound _so _sappy, but honestly, I was touched.

I put my arm around her shoulder and squeezed it as we entered the house. The lower level was the picture of worry and anxiety. Jeb was hunched over a laptop, typing furiously. Mom was reading over his shoulder, surveying what he was doing. The rest of the Flock and Ari and Ella were scattered across the living room.

Jeb glanced up from the computer, noticing me across the room.

"Max." he said with relief. He strode across the room embracing me in a tight grip. Hadn't he realized yet that near death situations are all too common for us?

"What's going on?" I asked, my voice muffled because it was pressed into his chest.

Jeb released me, leading me back to the laptop. He sat down and clicked, bringing up a screen with what looked like a moving mass of red. My mom put her arm around my shoulders tiredly. I gave her a side hug back.

"Look at this." Jeb said, pointing to the red mass on the computer. All of us crowded around to get a look at it. "I was able to get a track on the Flyboy's coordinates, using their electronic signatures and locating their large electro-memory masses."

"English please!" the Gasman asked.

"Basically, I can track the Flyboys, and they're headed this way."

I saw Ella's jaw drop slightly out of the corner of my eye. She wasn't exactly used to this stuff.

"We have to leave, now." Jeb continued. If we get down to the airport, I can rent a plane and fly us somewhere."

"But wouldn't you have to book a pilot? How would we keep where we're going a secret if we have an extra person on our hands?"

"I have a pilot license." Jeb said curtly. "Valencia, we have to go _now_." he said, looking her in the eye.

I caught a last glance at the screen before Jeb closed it. The Flyboys were after _us_. Me and the Flock. I couldn't put Mom, Ella, Ari, and Jeb in danger like this. I just couldn't.

"You guys go catch a plane. I'll lead them off."

Jeb's mouth opened slightly. "Maximum, I should probably expect this from you by now. No. Absolutely not."

"Jeb is completely right. There is no way I'm going to let you try to 'lead off' these robot things." My mom agreed.

I sighed. "Mom, Jeb, do you know how many times I've done this before?"

"That's before I knew you were my daughter. No, Max." Mom said sternly.

"Fine." I said. But I gave each member of the Flock a look that said, _Yeah, right._ They returned the look with one of their own. _We're in._ Iggy included, he knows me well enough to know I gave him the look in the first place.


	13. Flight of the plane variety now

**Hey everybody! (FINALLY) I new chapter!! WoOtZ! I'm having issues with adding edits, so I'm just bold-typing on my actual Word Document. **

**I didn't get a chance to say that my last chapter was dedicated to Ashlee, and that Fang did indeed hair flip again by her request :D **

**This chapter has Brianna's request, a thumbs up! And guess who it's from? My favorite amazing blind bird kid ever, Iggy! In case you all didn't know, I love Iggy. He rox my sox! Anyway, after my Iggy rant, I also dedicate this chapter to Jaina, whose birthday is today. Happy Birthday Jaina! (She's been bugging me for an update, so here's a B-day present for her :D )**

Lucky for us, mom had a van for transporting hurt animals to the clinic, and we all fit inside without having a stunning resemblance to a can of sardines. After the tense twenty minute drive to the airport, Jeb quickly rented a small plane just big enough for all of us.

Jeb and Dr.Matinez decided to go to Massachusetts, almost completely across the country.

As we quickly walked to the airstrip to the plane, the sun set quickly, leaving us with a full moon. All the easier to be spotted by Flyboys by.

Ella looked like she had a death grip on Mom's hand. Poor kid. Look what sis brought with her, huh?

Angel's cool hand held onto mine lightly. She was lagging a bit, so I picked her up and carried her. Iggy and Fang walked with Nudge and the Gasman between them. The two younger kids occasionally did a sweep of the area, making sure no Flyboys were coming from the air or on the ground. I was proud of them. They'd probably require heavy

therapy later in life for paranoia, but I was proud nonetheless.

"Buckle up." Jeb said as we boarded the plane. Because a little turbulence was all we had to worry about.

Jeb sat in the cockpit, with Dr.Martinez beside him. Ari sat the closest to the cockpit. The flock and I purposefully chose the seats in the plane that would be easiest to get out of.

"It's going to be okay, Ella." I told Ella, whose teeth were clenched as we took off. "No Flyboy is going to hurt you, I promise."

"How can you promise that?" she asked.

"I just can." I answered.

I heard Jeb in the cockpit. "Anything on the radar,Valencia?" Mom held the laptop with the radar tracking the Flyboys.

"Nothing yet Jeb."

That calmed me down. For a millisecond. When the Flyboys came onto that radar, they would come _fast_, which would mean the Flock would have to be faster.

Ari got up from his seat and walked back to me. "Hey Max." he said simply.

"Hey Ari." I said simply, matching his light tone.

He smirked. "You ought to add actress to the list of things you want to be when you grow up." He said, shaking his head.

I didn't have such a list. If I did, the only thing that would be on it would be "alive."

"I know what you're up to, Max." he said quietly. Iggy was sitting next to me and pretended not to hear, even though I knew that he could probably hear a cricket if it was within eighty feet in any direction.

"What do you mean?" I asked, wondering if he really did know.

"You have that look on your face. It's the one you get when you have a plan and you're waiting to put it in action. Anyway, whatever it is, I want to help."

"Ari…Okay, I do have a plan, but you can't really help." I said reluctantly.

"I'm guessing it involves jumping out of this thing as soon as any Flyboys show up on the radar." he whispered so Ella wouldn't hear.

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Please don't try to stop us, Ari."

"I won't." he answered. He chuckled, "How could I? You're the most stubborn person I know."

"I prefer most troubled with authority."

"Right."

I leaned forward and spoke even softer. "We're going to lead them off. We're going to fly out of here. Can you keep Mom and Jeb from trying to stop us and freaking out too bad?"

Ari nodded and smiled. "Definitely."

I smiled back. "Thanks Ari."

A faint gasp of alarm came from Mom in the cockpit.

"Turn off any lights! All of them!" she exclaimed.

Jeb quickly yet calmly flicked the switch to shut off all of the cabin lights, and then the ones on the outside of the plane. The only light was the one coming from the laptop, illuminating the small airplane cabin.

"There's more." Mom said, showing Jeb. If he hadn't had more practice, he probably would have gasped. He simply nodded.

I could see the screen from where I sat. Red was surrounding a dot in the center of the screen. The dot was us. The red was the Flyboys.

In simple terms, if we didn't do something fast, we were dead meat.

"How did they get so close without us detecting them?" Ari asked, loud and tense as he quickly walked to the cockpit.

"I have no idea." Jeb said. "Buckle in. Tight." Ari quickly obeyed.

Dr.Martinez turned and her eyes scanned over all of us, lingering over Ella and I. Her two biological children. She tried to hide her fear so well. It made me love her more.

We had all obeyed and strapped in. Except, the Flock wasn't strapped in as tight as Jeb, Mom, Ari, and Ella.

Iggy sat next to me, and I grabbed his hand and squeezed three times. He let go and gave me a thumbs up. He knew what to do.

I exchanged looks with the rest of the Flock. The younger kids looked anxious, but prepared. I looked at Fang the last, and held the look the longest. He looked ready for anything. That gave me strength.

Suddenly, I heard the noise of a bullet hitting the side of the plane. Go time.

"Hang on!" Jeb yelled, thrusting the throttle forward, throwing the plane into a ninety degree dive.

As I heard Ella's scream, I heard something else thunk against the side of the plane.

I unbuckled my seat and laid on the now vertical floor and slid down into the cockpit.

"Max!" Jeb yelled.

In the brief second I had, I found the button to open the back of the plane and slammed down on it.

"Go! Go! Go!" I screamed.

I jumped up and let the gravity and velocity carry me out of the back of the plane. The Flock followed my example, leaping out of their seats like gunshots, and shooting back and up into the air.

Now we would get to see what these new Flyboys could really do.

**Dun dun duuuunn. **

**I know, a cliffie. I'm already working on the next chapter, don't worry :D**

**BTW, in case this didn't make it into my edits, I promise I'll bring back the Fangmobile somehow! Please don't stop reading cuz it's gone, it will be back ; )**

**Hope you guys liked this chapter! I've been wicked busy lately, insanity. But anyway, you can expect another update soon.:D**

**Don't forget, REVIEW!! Please, I love reviews! Send this to your friends who aren't on fanfiction if you like this fic! Reviews really motivate me and help me to write better! Oh yeah, and updates apparently make you guys happy. :D**


	14. How'd you do that, Iggy?

**Woo-hoo! New chapter! I was wicked touched by the response I got. I love reviews. Heehee. Anyway, like I said, reviews equals motivation to update! **

**(Btw, I already had this chapter almost written before I posted that authors note…muahahaha)**

**Oh yeah, a special thanks to MaxRideNut for letting me know that there's a button to enable anonymous reviews! Hahah. I'm new to this site, don't scoff at my ignorance ******

**I havn't said this in a while so, I don't own. James Patterson does. ( ******

**Okay, so, I've decided that I'm going to give you guys a song to listen to while you read each chapter (One of my others was "Me against the World") Well, this one is "Energy" by Skillet! It's a very…scream-y song. Hahha. (I don't own any of the music I mention, just to clarify that now so I don't have to do it every chapter…)**

**Okay, after that LONG author's note drum roll here it is!!!!!**

In the moment of adjustment to being in the open air, I unfurled my wings as I saw the plane continue to dive, getting them away from here. The Flock was falling/ flying beside me.

"Flyboys, two o'clock." Fang yelled to me.

"And eight o'clock!" I added.

We got into a circular formation, so we could see all around us.

"Um, Max?" the Gasman said softly, "I think they're _all _the o'clocks."

He was right, we were surrounded.

We stayed at our altitude. If we flew lower, they could come down on us. If we flew higher, eventually the air would be too thin even for us, and they wouldn't be affected.

The Flyboys continued flying at us, not paying attention to the plane. I felt a sense of grim satisfaction.

With my avian enhanced eyesight, I saw the plane level off. It seemed to yaw to the right, then jerk back to its original flight path.

_Thanks Ari._

Suddenly, a bullet scraped my leg, just scraping the skin, as bad as a paper cut. I whipped my head around, seeing a Flyboy only twenty yards away from me.

My mind went from "ouch" mode to "angry/ kick butt" mode. I flew at the Flyboy, fists forward. I kicked its jaw, making it jerk backward, and I tried to kick where its spinal cord would be. Would the so-called "New and improved" Flyboys have the same fatal flaw?

The Flyboy came at me with his right fist forward. Did it really underestimate that I couldn't dodge that? I got ready to swing my leg up into its head, but a net shot out of the Flyboy's left wrist where its gun would usually be. Weights attached to the edges pulled it down over me, constricting my limbs. Unfortunately, wings included.

The breath was ripped out of my lungs during freefall, not letting me make a sound.

After about four seconds, my descent was abruptly stopped by strong arms around me. I tried to see through the net.

"Fang?" I asked, assuming he caught me like he has with by brain attcks.

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint." Iggy.

"Iggy?" I questioned disbelievingly as he flew us to the ground. "How did you catch me?"

"Um…well, I flew and grabbed you before you went splat, Max."

Always Mr.Sarcastic. "No, Ig, I mean, how did you know I was falling? I didn't even scream."

Iggy's touched the ground and put me down. I began struggling to get the net off of me. Iggy's sightless blue eyes rested on the sky.

"Uh oh. Explain later Max." he said abruptly, shooting up into the sky.

I disentangled myself, looking up to see an enormous helicopter thing coming. Flyboys were filing into it. With my raptor vision, I saw them holding Angel, Nudge, and the Gasman. Iggy was shooting up toward the mouth of the helicopter as fast as possible, as Fang grappled with three Flyboys. I shot up into the air at two-hundred miles per hour.

I slammed into the Flyboy holding Angel, and she spun from its arms into the air.

"Get out of here!? Iggy yelled, taking out something that had been strapped to his arm.

The Flyboy who had been holding Angel seemed to give up, heading into the helicopter. Fang flew to me, where I was struggling with the Flyboy holding the Gasman under one arm.

"Get Nudge!" I yelled to Fang. The Flyboy holding Nudge was getting dangerously close to the helicopter.

After a few seconds I kicked the Flyboys spinal cord, at the same time delivering a punch to its head. The Gasman flew away as it dropped like a rock.

Fang delivered a stunning punch to the Flyboy's jaw he was fighting, making it literally fly backward and into the helicopter. Nudge squeezed from its grasp and flew away as fast as she could.

"Drop!" I heard Iggy yell, throwing the object. A bomb of course.

Never underestimating Iggy, we dropped like stones.

The bomb landed inside the helicopter door. It exploded like the Fourth of July fireworks all across the country combined into one big blast.

Luckily, the Flock was already out of range.

"Woo! Yeah!" I heard Iggy whoop with hysterical joy as we flew downward.

**Oo Something's up with Iggy! mysterious music **

**Goes into Ryan Seacrest impression You'll find out what…after the next chapter.**

**Reviews make scream with girlish joy! Hahahha, JK, but they do make me smile! Happy dance if there's a lot ******


	15. Iggy, he does NOT have a thing for me!

**Woo hoo! New chapter! But apparently you guys don't get the meaning of REVIEW when I post a new chapter. Silly readers. Except for DigiNinMon. Lol, yes, explosives ARE always good. ) Maybe I'll get some reviews on THIS chapter. **

**goes and grabs Iggy Iggy looks confused **

**Iggy: Symeria? What are you doing?**

**Me: Can you tell them to review? Please?**

**Iggy: Of course! Anything for you, Sym.**

**Me: smiles Thanks Iggy!**

**Iggy: Okay, can you guys read this then review? I know it would make her totally happy. Was that okay, Sym?**

**Me: Of course Iggy! Thanks so much! smiles again like the fangirl I am…**

**Iggy: Can we go back to revealing my cool new power now?**

**Me: Of course! Go right ahead!**

**Iggy: I'd suggest listening to "Welcome to my life" by Simple Plan for this one. Not for any particular reason, I just couldn't think of any other songs shrugs**

**Me: Awesome idea Iggy! hugs You heard the genetically enhanced amazing mutant hybrid! If you won't review for me, review for him :-D**

We thought now might be a good time to beat it.

We flew towards Lake Mead, deciding that a "hawk reunion" was in order. Or something like that.

After a few hours of flying, we settled into the cave, exhausted. None of the hawks were there, and Angel suggested that they were taking a vacation.

Angel, Nudge, and the Gasman went to gather firewood at the base of the cliff our cave was in, leaving me, Fang, and Iggy alone.

After an awkward silence I asked quietly, "Do you think they're okay?"

"I didn't see any more helicopters heading in their direction." Fang said.

Iggy nodded. "I'm sure they're fine."

"I hope you're right." I said. I felt incredibly guilty that I'd gotten Mom and Ella wrapped up in this. "I'm such an idiot."

Fang looked at me with a hint of confusion. "Why?"

"Because I think I tricked myself into believing that we'd be safe for a while. In Jeb's words, I can't 'escape my destiny.' And…it's all my fault that Mom and Ella are on the run." I ran my hands through my hair.

Iggy put a comforting hand on my shoulder as Fang crouched in front of me.

"Max, it's not your fault." Fang said quietly.

"But-"

"He's right." Iggy said before I could continue.

Fang continued. "You've never done anything to hurt them. This is _all _the Director's fault. You've done the best you can to protect them."

"But I led them there!" I said. "I brought them into this!"

"Max-" Fang said.

I cut him off. "Just forget it. There's more important things right now."

"Like?" Iggy questioned

I stood up to face him. "Like _you _Iggy. How did you know how and _where _I was falling?"

"What?" Fang asked, confused.

"A Flyboy shot this net at me, and Iggy caught me."

"Sorry to take your job, man." Iggy smirked. "I figured you'd rather have her in one piece."

Fang looked annoyed and amused at the same time. "Thanks man." He said sarcastically.

"So…how did you do it?" I asked, bringing us back to the topic.

"Well…" Iggy said, seemingly staring at his folded hands. "I have a power, Max."

This information made even Fang's eyes widen.

"What?" I exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us?! When did you find out?!"

Iggy grinned. "Chill out, Max. I didn't find it out until tonight."

"So what is it?" Fang asked. I looked at Iggy expectantly.

"Well, I can sort of…see."

My mouth dropped. "WHAT?!" I nearly yelled. "Iggy that's wonderful!" I exclaimed, nearly tackling him with a hug.

Iggy laughed. "Don't get too carried away, Max. I said 'sort of.' "

I pulled back. "What do you mean?" I sat down again.

Iggy stayed standing as Fang sat beside me on a large rock. Fang's always somber look was weakening and impatience began to creep into his features.

"I can't see like I used to. Or like you guys." Iggy explained. "Nothing I 'see' moves. I don't think I use my eyes. I think I sort of…take pictures with my mind."

"What?" I asked in a confused whisper.

"I think I have, like, _mind sight _or something. I think I use my brain to take pictures, but I can't see color. It's like taking a black and white photograph in my head."

There was a long silence as we tried to process this unbelievable information.

"Ig, I think you use…echolocation or something. Do you need sound to do it?" Fang asked.

"I think so." Iggy replied.

"Then it would make sense why you can't see color." I said

"I guess so." Iggy said. "But maybe it's just that I need to practice to see color."

I nodded. "Maybe. But that's not that important, the fact is, you can _see _things now, Iggy!"

"Sort of." He said, a smile growing on his face.

I stood up and hugged him again. "I'm so happy for you, Ig!" I said, smiling like my face was going to crack.

"Seriously, that's awesome man." Fang said, clapping Iggy in the back.

Iggy grinned. "Can I ask you guys to do me a favor?" he said, picking up a fist sized rock.

"Sure." I replied.

Iggy took a step back. "Try to stay still, I'll be able to see you better."

Fang and I stood still, and Iggy dropped the rock. It made a large noise as it hit the cave floor.

Iggy's eyes were open wide for a moment. A few seconds later, he blinked a few times rapidly.

"Whoa. You guys have changed a lot since I last saw you."

I laughed. "That's probably a good thing."

Iggy smiled. "It's almost freaky to finally see you guys." After a pause he said a bit hesitantly, "You're kinda hot now, Max. I can see why Mr. Stereotype tall dark and silent has a thing for you."

Get this, Fang _laughed_.

Despite Iggy's comment, Fang's laughter was so incredible to my ears that I began laughing too.

After a few minutes, Fang spoke. "Dude, don't-"

Iggy cut him off. "Don't even try! It's too obvious, and _I'm _supposed to be the blind one."

I blushed. Curse that involuntary reaction. I waited for Fang's response.

"Whatever makes you happy, Iggy."

Iggy pumped his fist into the air, letting out a cackle. "I knew it! Who knew it? _I _did."

"But he didn't-" I started.

"Oh yes he did!" he Iggy interrupted, still cackling. I rolled my eyes.

"I must say, you two make quite the couple." Iggy said, grinning mischievously.

I scowled. "Ig, I'll let you off for your beating in honor of your new powers. But any of this tomorrow and-"

"I know, I know." Iggy said, still grinning. "But at least right now I'm having so much fun seeing you blush. I can't see color, but your face is pretty dark."

Fang began to chuckle as I scowled.

**Iggy said review, so review people! Tell me what you think of his power! I have no idea if anyone has used this before, so don't kill me if you've read another fic where Iggy has this power! I honestly have no clue, I think I thought of it myself. Lol. It's pretty darn cool in my opinion. I couldn't give him sight (sorry Iggy) cuz that would just take away some of his…Iggy-Amazingness, but I wanted him to be able to see the Flock in this fic, cuz he rocks and deserves it!**

**Tell me all of your thoughts! Did you think the conversation between Iggy, Max, and Fang was funny when it was supposed to be? Did I keep them in character? What do you think should happen next?**

**Angel walks over Angel: Hey Symeria! Whatcha doin?**

**Me: Nothin much, Angel, just trying to get some feedback from the readers!**

**Angel: Oh. Okay! I can help! Angel looks at screen and gets that scary look on her face Review. Now. Do it.**

**Me: takes a few steps backward Um…thanks Angel**

**Angel: No problem! skips away**

**Me: shudders You felt the mind control, do it. Or else I shall write other really long Author's Notes! muahahha**


	16. No, we CAN NOT keep Alfredo

**WOW. Just…wow is all I can say. Well, I can say THANK YOU to my lovely readers! (Especially my incredible REVIEWERS!! You guys are the best of them all : -) 8 reviews last chapter! HOLY RAVIOLI!!! You guys actually made me scream with girlish joy. I admit it! Lol. Because of this, I have to get AT LEAST 6 reviews every chapter (yes, I am giving you guys a requirement thingy lol) More would be totally awesome too! Heehee.**

**Anyway, I was going to wait to post till I had a bit more written, but since you guys rock my sox so hard, I'm posting this short-ish chapter now, sort of a filler. More to come SOON though, I'm in the middle of working on the next chapter. Confusion, turmoil, heartache, you know, a whole Max Ride angsty deal. I think it's coming along very interestingly….**

**Oh yeah, I loooooved the response I got to Iggy's new power! I was unsure if you guys were gonna hate it, cuz un-blind Iggy isn't Iggy! But this way he can see the Flock (something I've always wished he could do) but he's still Iggy:D**

**Me: Umm…Iggy?**

**Iggy walks over Yeah, Sym?**

**Me: I…um…don't have a song for them to listen to. Do you have anything?**

**Iggy contemplates How about "Holding On" by Simple plan? **

**Me: The song I don't own! I guess that's a good idea Iggy, although it doesn't exactly go with the next chapter…**

**Iggy: Who cares? Simple Plan rocks!**

**Me: shrugs That's true, their new album is practically like a soundtrack for your books…**

**Iggy smiles**

**I look and get Iggy-struck I…uum…uuuhh…..Enjoy the chapter guys….**

Needless to say, the rest of the Flock was incredibly happy for Iggy. He "took pictures" of the younger kids, commenting on how much they've changed. Angel had hugged him hard, not letting him go for a very long time. I honestly had almost wanted to cry myself. Iggy couldn't see, but at least he would get a taste of the world.

A little later, the Gasman was trying to show me something he was holding in his closed hands. "Guess what it is, Max!" he said, grinning. I was almost scared to find out what he was holding.

"I don't have a clue what it is, Gazzy. Can you just tell me?" I asked.

His smile grew, and he held out his hands toward me. "Look closer!" I moved forward half an inch. I was smart enough to know not to get to close when the Gasman was keeping something secret.

He opened his hands suddenly. "It's a frog!" he said loudly. It leaped out of his hands and onto my lap. I screamed, not expecting something so slimy, small and green.

The Gasman laughed loudly and scooped up the frog. "What do you think I should name him?" he giggled.

I smiled warily, getting over the shock of the frog practically attacking me. "I don't know. Ask Nudge or Angel."

Gazzy nodded and went to ask Nudge and Angel's opinions.

Angel's first suggestion was Kermit, which was immediately vetoed by Gazzy. That kid had been _terrified _of Kermit the frog when he was four.

Nudge suggested Alfredo. The Gasman made the mistake of asking her why she thought of that, pushing Nudge into one of her rambles. "Isn't Alfredo a funny word? I think it's the name of an Italian food or something. Or is it from Greece? What's the name of stuff from Greece? Anyway, I think Alfredo is a great name for a frog. You know that story about the Princess who kissed the frog? What was _his _name? Did he even have a name? They just called him 'The Prince.' Why'd she have to kiss him anyway?"

The Gasman groaned. "Nudge, I'll call him Alfredo if you stop!"

"Okay." Nudge said, making it sound like that was a fair deal.

"But we're calling him 'Weird Al' for short." Gazzy said.

"Deal." Nudge said, sticking out her hand. That Gasman shook it. I think they decided on sharing custody of the frog.

Fang watched this scene with slight amusement on his features. He sat leaning his back against the cave wall, hair covering his right eye.

Iggy sat beside him, smiling and listening to what was going on. He'd explained to Fang and I that he couldn't use his new powers to often, or else it made his head hurt a bit.

His ruffled strawberry blonde hair stuck on end at the top of his head. The surprising thing is, some guys try so hard to make their hair do that with gel and hairspray, but all Iggy, the birdkid on the run, has to do is wake up and rub his hand over his head and BAM! hair done.

I sat down between Iggy and Fang. I talked softly so the younger kids wouldn't hear.

"So, we have to decide if we're going to Massachusetts after this."

"I don't know, Max." Fang sighed. "We have no idea where they are exactly."

"Or if they're even going to get there safely." I said gloomily.

"You're so depressing." Iggy said, shaking his head. I gave him a look. "Wait, hold on a sec!" I held the look as Iggy clapped once, loudly. His eyes went round as before, and after he blinked rapidly, he began laughing. "Whoa, so _that's _what a 'Shut up Iggy, look' looks like."

I had to smirk at that.

**I hope you guys enjoy my lovely author's notes. Hahha. The faster I get reviews on this short chap, the more motivation I have to write the next! (I also hope you read these incredibly long things…)**

**Oh yeah! You guys get to VOTE on who I do my Author's note with next chapter!! So, in your comment tell me if you want me to make Max or Fang do my author's note with me! (Max is incredibly awesome, but if you guys pick Fang…omigosh, I'll be the happiest FANGirl on the planet…)**


	17. Pushed over the edge

**Seriously, all of you people rock my sox!! **

**Ok, here's the new chapter!! Since I only got three votes on who to do this AN with, and two of them were for FANG, it's Fang in this chapter, Max in the next : ) Here goes! Okay, anything I put in () is an action. Asterisks and squiggly lines havn't been working when I publish for some reason.**

**(Goes and grabs Fang) Hey Fang! Guess what? You get to do the author's note this chapter!**

**Fang: okayy…so what do you want me to do?**

**Me: Well, can you think of any songs for them to listen to?**

**Fang: How about "Welcome to my Life" by Simple Plan?**

**Me: Great idea!**

**Fang: (smiles)**

**Me: (starts working incredibly hard to compose myself before I practically begin to hyperventilate) Yeah, I think that would be good. Oh, and guess what? It's YOUR POV in the next chapter!**

**Fang: Cool! Sorry Sym, I gotta go help Max. Hope they like it!**

**Me: (inwardly pouts) that's okay….see ya later Fang (hugs Fang quickly) **

**Fang: (smirks the classic "Fang smirk") bye Sym**

**Me: …bye Fang.**

**Hope you guys like this chapter!! …..as I go scream my head off:D **

I woke up the next morning with a crick in my neck.

"Ouch." I muttered, rolling over. I accidentally hit Fang's elbow, waking him up suddenly. I grimaced. "Sorry, Fang." I whispered, not wanting to wake up Angel who was fast asleep beside me. He nodded, jerking his head to the cave entrance. He got up and I followed him out.

The air was crisp as the sun rose over Lake Mead, making it look like one huge glittering crystal. I couldn't look directly at it.

"Good morning." Fang yawned, sitting down on the ledge.

"Wicked sorry I woke you up so early." I apologized, sitting next to him.

"It's cool." He yawned again. "Should probably be getting up anyway."

We sat silently in companionable silence, breathing in the morning air.

"_I wish I could read your mind right now." _Said Fang, _Inside my head_.

I gasped. I had actually forgotten about his newly discovered power in all of the stuff happening. Fang chuckled. "You forgot, didn't you? I don't blame you."

I sighed. I knew what he wanted. I looked at him, catching his eye. "Fang, I know you want a power to help the Flock. You'll find another one soon, an even cooler one, I just know it."

"How would you know that?" he asked.

"Because…just…you're _you._"

"Oh here we go with this 'you' stuff again." Fang said, rolling his eyes.

"Hold on!" I said. "I know that you'll have another power because you're _you. _Unpredictable, and usually surprising. I'm shocked you havn't died yet. Surprises me every day."

Fang smiled, beating the sunrise by about a thousand watts. "Thanks Max." he said simply.

I smiled back. "What do you say you try out that new power?" I asked mischievously.

Fang chuckled and smiled wider as he grasped what I meant. He proceeded to practically yell in the Flock's heads to get up. The reactions were amusing to say the least.

Angel slightly screeched as her hands flew out.

Nudge screamed, "Oh em gee!" as she flinched, flying at least three inches from the ground.

The Gasman flipped from his stomach to his back faster than a pancake in a diner.

Iggy bolted completely upright, whipping his head back and forth.

Fang and I responded by falling down at the mouth of the cave in uncontrollable laughter.

After a very long Flock discussion, we decided to go to Massachusetts. We packed our things into our back packs and took off into the crisp morning air. I breathed in, feeling refreshed. It wasn't more than nine o' clock, but we were all energetic and alert. I might have been because we were happy just to be _alive_.

Some kids rejoice over a new iPhone for Christmas, we're happy if we get to _live _till next Christmas.

I had no idea if the plane had made it to Massachusetts safely, but I felt strangely optimistic.

Maybe I was getting heatstroke.

After a few hours, Nudge flew beside me. "Hey Max? Can we take a rest? Cuz I'm hungry, and kinda tired, you know? And I don't want to fall out of the sky from exhaustion or something and splat. I would be like a bug on a windshield or a Nudge-cake or a-"

"We're landing guys!" I yelled. Yes, I was just broken down by the ramblings of a twelve year old. Nudge beamed as we glided downward.

About twenty minutes later, we were in a small gas station, stocking up on the necessities: soda, chips, onion rings, Ding-Dongs, and _lots _of it. Fang poked his head around the aisle where I was looking for Snickers bars for the Gasman.

"Coke or Crush?" he asked.

"Umm…why choose?" was my reply.

Fang smirked. "You got it." He went back to looking for drinks.

Eventually I found everything I was looking for. "Hey guys, meet me at the front when you're done, got it?" I called. I heard five "yeahs" in reply.

I walked to the front where the register was. A girl who looked between twenty and twenty-one was standing behind it, wearing a name tag that said "Daisy."

The name certainly didn't fit.

She had blonde and black dyed hair, a lip ring, a nose ring, heavy dark eyeliner, and she emanated a bad attitude. She snapped her gum loudly as I placed my things on the counter. After a moment of her staring at me with a bored look on her face, she asked, "You got money?"

I bit back a sarcastic remark about how she wasn't going to sell anything with her attitude. "Yeah." I said. "I'm just waiting for my friends with the other stuff."

"Whatever." She said before taking a few steps to the left, then leaning her back of the counter.

I rolled my eyes and looked to see if any of the Flock was coming yet. What was taking them so long?

My attention was caught be a TV on a stand near the ceiling. A woman in a hideous pink blazer (that Nudge would claim was uber-adorable) was taking about something about global warming.

Just so you guys get this, it isn't the earth getting a little warmer you have to worry about, it's being annihilated by Itex. Just so we're clear.

But what she said next made my breath freeze in my throat.

"We have reports of a small airplane that crashed into the woods in southern New York. Here's Chad Donaldson with the story."

The scene switched to a man with an incredibly obvious comb over standing in front of the ruins of a small plane.

_No. No. No. Please no._

Then I recognized the green stripe on the side.

As my head began to spin, I heard bits of what the newscaster was saying.

"Around 12 pm last night….bullet holes….residents said….strange objects flying around it…four passengers…no survivers…"

That's when my head felt like it was under water, and everything went dark.

**DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNN!!!!!!!!! I'm EVIL. But I'm working on the next chapter right now, it SHOULD be up by tonight. If I get reviews I'm motivated to work faster ; ) hint hint**

**Remember, Fang's POV in the next chapter, and Max is doing the AN with me: )**

**Oh yeah, and congrats to Aviator for noticing that Total isn't here! In the beginning, I tried to work him in, but with all the action going on, it was too difficult to keep track of six amazing flying mutants, Ari, Max's sister and mom, and Jeb. So basically, I'm just pretending that they left Total in a kennel! Hahahha!**

**If you guys want, maybe I'll put in a short chapter later about what's going on with him there, but you have to tell me you want it in your reviews: )**


	18. Someone needs to take care of her too

**Okay wonderful readers! Here's the chapter after I was so cruel to you! Max is kinda busy…unconscious…right now, so she won't be doing the AN with me this chapter, sry guys! Next one though! **

**But fortunately, I don't need one of the Flock to suggest a song for me this chapter, I thought of one on my own! "Already Over" by RED! It's great )**

**I post this while being in INSANE anticipation of the MR4 release TOMORROW! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! SO PSYCHED! **

**Anyway, ahem, here's the new chapter! (and a special thanks to LovinaHolmes who I tested the beginning of this on to see if it was Fang-ish enough!)**

I dragged Nudge away from the gummi worms towards the front of the store to meet Max. I had no idea why Nudge liked those things, food should _not _be neon orange and green. We also had enough problems without a flying motor mouth mutant with cavities.

We came from behind the aisle, and I saw Max standing in front of the register. My enhanced hearing picked up the words "no survivors" from an old television near the ceiling. For some reason, Max put her hand to her head. 

My pulse sped up.

Was she having a brain attack?

I walked fast.

She began to sway on her feet.

I ran.

Just as I reached Max, she collapsed. I caught her before she hit her head on the tiled floor. 

"Max! Max!" I practically yelled into her head. Then it occurred to me that if she was having a brain attack I would just be making it worse. I was confused because Max wasn't clenching her hands to her head or even crying like she usually did during brain attacks. She was completely limp, but she still had a pulse (thank God.)

I heard Nudge behind me as she leaned down to see Max. She was quiet so we wouldn't catch the attention of the goth girl working the counter.

"What happened?" Nudge whispered frantically.

"She passed out or something. Find the others, I have to get her out of here. I'll tell you where to find me."

Nudge nodded, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. I was proud.

"Good." I simply replied as I picked up Max. I nodded at Nudge before running outside with Max in my arms. I ran across the deserted street and into the woods before taking off.

As I flew, I kept looking down at Max, wishing for the twitch of an eyelid, a sound, or even a sarcastic comment about her being able to fly on her own.

After ten minutes of flying, I picked a small open area in the forest. My feet skidded across dried pine needles as I landed. I placed Max down beside a tree, and I sat down beside her, leaning against it. I took of my worn leather jacket and laid it over her. 

I realized that I still hadn't contacted Nudge. I thought hard, trying to send the words to her. That's when I stupidly realized I'd have no way of knowing if I'd done it right. I contacted Angel.

"Angel, did Nudge hear me?"

"Hi Fang!" I heard her say brightly. "Yeah, she did. We're coming. Your new power is so cool! Now we can talk to each other all the time an' stuff!"

I suppressed a groan.

"Is Max okay?" she asked, her six year old voice full of worry.

"Still out. Did you read her mind yet?"

"Yeah. There's nothing but darkness, she's just unconscious."

I nodded. "Okay, bye Angel." I said, wanting to be the only person in my head at the moment.

"Bye bye, Fang!" she replied.

I absentmindedly a piece of rough bark off of the tree I was leaning against and began turning it over and over in my hands. 

"Come on, Max. Wake up." I muttered. I reached down to her neck, my fingers lightly reading her steady pulse. 

Her face was so peaceful for once, a small part of me almost wished she wouldn't wake up so she could stay in whatever dream world she was in. I almost didn't want her to wake up to the pressure and responsibilities that plagued her constantly.

I felt restless, so I stood up and began pacing. Back and forth, back and forth across the small clearing. I shoved my hands into my pockets, as a wave of confused thoughts washed over me. Is this what leadership felt like all the time to Max? This sense of uncertainty? Feeling like you wanted to change the situation?

I wanted to do something.

I _needed _to do something.

I felt like I needed to change the course of my future. If I had one.

A sense of hopelessness began creeping into my soul. Uselessness. Invisibility.

_Get a grip man!_

I sighed, shaking my head. I had to get a grip! People were depending on me now, but I didn't know what to do. I felt myself unconsciously break the bark in my hand, then the dull stinging sensation of a small piece of wood being embedded in my hand. I dropped the bark and prepared to take it out.

I put my palm close to my face. 

At least I _thought _I did.

I blinked, confused. I tried waving my hand, feeling it move. I still didn't _see_ it. Had something gone screwy with my nervous system or something? Could you have the illusion that you're moving when you aren't? I looked down, expecting to see my arm hanging limply at my side or something, but I didn't. I didn't see _anything_.

I almost yelled as I saw ground where my legs should have been. 

Was I dead? Was this what being dead felt like? What had killed me?

I admit it, Mr. Stone was panicking.

I timidly tapped where my chest should have been, and nearly jumped as my hand felt like it connected with my shirt. I tired to force myself to breathe. I reached up (at least I _thought _I did) to touch my face. I ran my hand over it, feeling the flesh and becoming even more confused. 

I pinched myself. Not dreaming.

I heard a noise beside me and I jerked away. Max slightly moaned, putting her hand to her head. She blearily opened her eyes, blinking a few times. As she began to sit up, I said, "Max? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She mumbled, rubbing her face. She looked around, and confusion grew on her face. "Fang? Where are you?" she asked.

So she couldn't see me either.

"I'm right next to you, Max."

"Fang, where are you? This isn't funny, stop hiding." She said, looking directly at me.

"Max, I'm not-" I was cut off by Max's scream.

She screeched and scrambled backwards away from me. She put a hand on her chest, breathing heavily. "Fang! How did you-you couldn't-but…What just happened?'

"I don't know. I just- I looked down and I couldn't see myself. I have no clue what happened." I said truthfully, my dark brown eyes focusing on her light brown ones. "I-I think I have a…new power."

Max swallowed hard as her eyebrows unknotted themselves. "I'd say so. I've…seen it firsthand."

"More like been scared out of your wits."

"Yeah, pretty much." She chuckled nervously. She looked at me hard. "Invisibility…I was right."

"Huh?" I asked. Had Jeb told her what power I would have or something?

"I told you that you would get a power that was more _you_. I was right." She smiled. "That's awesome, Fang."

I smiled broadly at her, and she blushed, turning her eyes downward.

"What happened?" she asked. "Where are we?"

"Well, we're in some forest, and the rest of the Flock is on their way. I flew you here, but I don't know what happened. I was hoping you could tell _me_."

"What?" 

"You passed out at the register, Max."

She froze, and her lips parted. 

"Max?"

She slowly shook her head, back and forth. She started shaking.

"Max? What's wrong? What happened?" I pressed, moving closer.

A strangled sob burst from her as she covered her face with her hands. "They're dead." Was all she managed to get out before she started sobbing loudly and uncontrollably.

It took me a moment to realize who she meant. "Oh, Max." I murmured before I wrapped my arms around her tightly.

**Okay, you guys ready? One, Two, Three. "Awwww!"**

**Wasn't THAT bittersweet? So sad. **

**Sorry I didn't give you guys any answers to your speculations yet, but its vital to the story.**

**I hope you guys like Fang's power! I've heard that it's beed used on a lot of other fics, but I havn't seen it used (shrug) and I thought of this for him on my own! (I heard about it being used before AFTER I decided to give Fang this power) Trust me, this power is VERY important later! Hope you liked! No updates tomorrow, cuz I'll be reading MAXIMUM RIDE: THE FINAL WARNING!**


	19. Determination in a furious package

**!IMPORTANT! (sorta…)**

**Silly readers, I only got three reviews, but I couldn't resist putting up this next chapter!**

**(But thank you to Amaya24, superbeaner, and LovinaHolmes who did review:-) **

**I must warn you now, most of this chapter is very bittersweet. But at the end it gets…intense. Coughfeelthedeterminationandangstrisingcough**

**(Okay, for those of you who couldn't read that, "Cough feel the determination and angst rising cough" lol)**

**I read Maximum Ride four the day it came out (I started it at 9:45 and finished at 12! Go me!) and I was sorely disappointed at the lack of action… SO, I've done a bit of a plot re-vamp, and this thing is going to have even more action than I'd originally planned! WoOtZ! **

**The next chapter is almost definitely gonna be in Max's POV, but let me know if you thought I did Fang justice, and I may occasionally use his POV in later chapters! (I NEED YOUR FEEDBACK PEOPLE!)**

**Oh yeah, did you notice how FRIGHTENINGLY similar Fang's power, and how his power is discovered in this thing is to the REAL MR4? (I literally screamed OMG NO WAY! While in the car on the drive home from Barnes and Noble…)**

**Anyway, song for this chapter is "Save You" by Simple Plan! (I ADORE this song, and it's PERFECT for this chapter! I find it definitely Faxy, just pay attention to the lyrics and you'll see it!)**

**I sort of picture Fang as a very deep thinker, that's why his thoughts are longer and deeper than Max's**

**Here we (finally) go!**

I was still holding Max when the Flock landed a few minutes later. Max hadn't tried to pull herself together like she usually did yet, but I didn't blame her one freaking bit. I wanted to kill something. Like the Director for instance. 

Then take on a horde of Flyboys just for the heck of it.

Angel gasped as she landed, running over to Max and throwing her arms around her. 

"What's wrong?" The Gasman asked anxiously as he ran over, sinking beside Max.

I decided not to say it out loud, so I told Nudge, Iggy, and the Gasman in their heads.

Nudge immediately starting crying. She stumbled over to Max and threw her arms tightly around her and Angel. Angel buried her head in Gazzy's shoulder as he sat numbly beside Max.

Iggy stood in mute shock a few feet away. After a minute of staring blankly, he walked over and sat down on the ground, draping one arm around Nudge's shoulders and putting his hand on Max's back. 

My heart was breaking. I felt like I was being shredded into pieces. 

I didn't like Jeb much, still. But dead? That was hard for me to accept.

Ari? I still was unsure if I'd completely forgiven him, but I could tell the guy had turned a new leaf. He didn't deserve to be brought back then _killed again _at this point.

My closed my eyes tightly at the thought of Ella and Dr. Martinez.

Ella's smiling face filled my mind, making my veins course with sadness. She was so young. So innocent. And Iggy had completely fallen for her, I could tell. 

Another ingredient to add to the blender of pain. 

Dr. Martinez. The only parental figure any of us had ever had that hadn't left us or betrayed us. She had been so giving, so accepting of us. She was a saint. And she had been killed trying to protect us. 

And perhaps worst of all, every member of Max's biological family was gone, leaving her without hope once again.

And for the first time in I don't know _how _long, tears began slipping down my face.

I pulled Max in tighter, kissing the top of her shaking head.

I have no idea how long we stayed like that, but I can tell you that we fell asleep huddled together that way. 

I woke up as a few rays of sun touched my face, the Flock was sprawled across the ground close together. Everyone had finally fallen asleep.

I absentmindedly stroked Max's hair, wondering what to do next. Apparently the Bi-Half plan was still on, and we were being hunted by Flyboys under the commands of the Director. With Jeb gone, we didn't have any sources on the inside. Basically, we were in the dark about what was going on.

Where would we go now? Was there any place to hide?

I looked around at the sleeping faces of the Flock, and a fierce desire to protect them came over me.

Max was pretty messed up right now, so was the rest of the Flock. I was in charge now.

I won't bore you with the complete details of what happened that day, It would depress you too much. No need to share the sorrow. It was pretty much lots of hugging, crying, and pain filled silence.

Max was fully awake and sitting up now, which was good. She had practically been a zombie the day before. 

Iggy and I had been left to comfort the younger kids, which was usually Max's area of expertise, but I think Ig and I did pretty well under the circumstances. Iggy was hurting hard himself, so I give him major props. Nudge had been trying to be her bravest for Angel and the Gasman. I'm not sure if I had ever been so proud of that motor mouth.

At the moment, Nudge was standing a few feet into the woods, blankly staring into space as the rest of us minus Max ate. I went to tell her that we were eating lunch.

"Nudge, we're having lunch." I said to her back.

"Kay." She said shakily. One word answers are unusual for Nudge. She rubbed her eyes, and I realized that she was crying again. Suddenly, her resolve finally broke and she whipped around, throwing her arms around me. I hesitantly put my arms around her. I was recently learning how to deal with hugs.

She sobbed into my chest, killing me inside. She began speaking rapidly through her sobs, and I couldn't understand her. I only understand the two sentences.

"I loved them… I hate my life."

Sorrow was beginning to be replaced by anger. 

Itex. Itex and the whole sick, twisted organization had _murdered_ the only people that the Flock could trust. My jaw clenched.

This had to end. These kids never knowing when they were or someone they loved was going to be killed, or when they were going to be captured for some sick _study_. This was going to end. 

_Now._

I quickly pushed Nudge away a bit, so I could lean down and put my hands on her shoulders. Her tear stained face only fueled my anger and made me more determined.

My voice came out in almost a growl. 

"Nudge. I know what you mean. And I _will not _rest until they're all annihilated. Until The Director, the Flyboys, every single Itex base is _gone_. They _will not _hurt _anyone _anymore. I swear to you, I'm going to stop this!" Fury rolled through my veins, steeling me further.

Nudge looked at me with wide eyes, possibly a bit frightened by my fury. She nodded rapidly.

"I-I want to help. I want to stop them. I don't want them to hurt anyone else."

I nodded. "I need you to help by…taking care of the Flock while I'm gone."

"What?" she squeaked. 

"I'm going to go to Germany, find an army, and destroy the main Itex base." I said before thinking about what I was saying.

I heard a voice softly behind me. "And I'm coming with you."

I turned around to see Max. her eyes were still red, her clothes were dirty, and she stood with her feet apart and her fists clenched. 

"Max-" I tried to protest. I didn't want to bring her into this. I had no idea if I would get killed. My idea was practically a suicide mission.

"I'm coming with you!" she nearly yelled. She closed her eyes and looked at the ground. "I _can't _sit around and take this anymore. I want them destroyed. I want revenge for what they've done to my family." She growled, shaking with anger.

I stared at her hard for a minute. There was no way she was backing down on this. I huffed.

"Okay. Let's do this."

**OoooooOOOOhhhhh…suspense building! Another ooh, mad and determined Fang…(drools)… what was I saying?**

**Anyway…I pretty much know what's gonna happen in the rest of this thing…and not to toot my own horn (Where the heck did they GET that saying anyway!) but GEAR UP PEOPLE! This thing is going to be intense…. Muahahhaha :-)**

**By the way, I WILL be writing that chapter about Total! Hahah. I may actually make it a one-shot, so I'll let you guys know what I do!**

**Feedback people! I need to know what you guys thought about my Fang POV and if I should do it again in the future!**

**(I'm aiming for nine reviews for this thing! I only got half my goal for the last chapter, so add that to my NORMAL goal, and you get nine) (plus that'll put me at 70 reviews:-) So press that little purple button and review, and I'll get Fang to give you a hug! (This is for the Girls…hmmm…Guys, do you want a hug from Max? Fang might try to murder you though, so it's at your own risk:-) **


	20. I'm sorry, I hate this too

**OMG, thank you to all of my amazing reviewers!! You guy are totally awesome!!**

**Yes, I know, this chapter is mad short. **

**This is sort of an introduction to the next chapter, sort of building you up if you will. I've been working on it, making sure the plot I have is the direction I want to take with this thing, you know? I've gotten so much urge to write from reading all of your reviews, but I've been working hard on orchestrating my plot, that's why I havn't updated! Anyway, hope this psychs you guys up for the next chapter! (It's going to be about how Max and Fang get to Germany, and it will probably have a portion in Iggy or Nudge's POV)**

**This chapter doesn't have a song because it's so short**

My eyes stung as I flew as fast as I could through the air at a pace that Fang could keep up with. The rest of the Flock had mixed reactions about us leaving.

Nudge had offered words of support.

Angel had cried and told us to be careful.

The Gasman, always my wonderful trooper, had tearfully tried to send us off with a joke, telling us to pick up souvenirs in Europe for him.

They had all asked to come, but I swiftly shut the requests down. I wouldn't put them in the danger Fang and I were going into. Of course they had all protested at first, but they'd realized that Fang and I were out for blood and wouldn't be stopped.

Except for Iggy.

He had been so incredibly angry, saying we were breaking our promise never to break up the Flock again. He'd been yelling at us till the second we left. I didn't want to think about the look on his face right now.

I tried to keep myself from falling into a stupid depressed reverie and let my anger fuel me.

We were going to Germany, and I was going to stop Itex once and for all.

They were going to see what it was like to endure the wrath of a hurt and angry Maximum Ride.


	21. Torture and some reassurance

**WHOooaaaaAAA man, you guys are INCREDIBLE!! Seriously, like, OMG you guys rock my world!! I got, what, SIX reviews for my last wicked short little chapter?! WHA?!**

**You all are AWESOME, so I dedicate this to ALL OF YOU! :D**

**The song for this chapter is "Heaven Forbid" by The Fray! Don't start listening to it until you pass that little line thingy. Lol. **

**Okay, I must admit, your reviews have given me joy. Why you ask? Because I'm EVIL. I know what's going to happen in this thing before it does, so I get to LAUGH when you guys freak out….You'll see soon enough (cue ominous music) **

**Anyway, Enjoy this long chapter that I've (FINALLY) Posted for you!!**

"This is the last time Mr.Batchelder. _Where are they_?" she snarled.

"I don't know!" Jeb yelled again, his voice hoarse. "I swear I have no idea!"

"Higher voltage." She said, evenly, stepping back.

The shackles on Jeb's wrists and ankles glowed for a moment and a buzzing sound filled the air. His yell was loud as the electricity traveled through him. He'd been strong at the beginning, almost not even wincing. Now the pain was so intense, he didn't care anymore.

The Director walked smoothly back to Jeb when the shock was complete. "Jeb, Jeb, Jeb. You know how easy it would be? Just tell me where they are, and I'll let you and your son free once they're terminated."

The sound of Jeb's labored breathing filled the small, dark room. "What about Ella and Dr. Martinez?"

"Yes. Them too." She took a casual step forward, and looked down to look Jeb in the eye. "The experiments are _priceless_, Mr.Batchelder. Priceless experiments with powers far beyond what average humans would ever be able to grasp. Itexicon can't let them be on their own. We _will not _fail. In the words of your _School's _charming little hunks of metal, _resistance is futile_."

"Never. I don't know where they are and I wouldn't tell you even if I knew!" Jeb growled angrily.

The Director smirked coldly. "Very well then."

Jeb heard the familiar buzzing again, and after a flash of light, everything went dark.

* * *

"Max. You have to rest at some point." Fang said pointedly.

"_Some point _being the key words. I can rest when I'm dead." I snapped.

Fang rolled his eyes. He'd been keeping pace with me the last six hours, even when I used a bit of my "hyper speed" for help. Stubborn kind a fella.

"Max, if you don't rest you're going to drop out of the sky." He said slowly, as if he was speaking to a three year old who couldn't grasp the concept. Minus the fake happy face and voice. Even in my fury, picturing that almost made me smile.

"Max? Max?" I heard Fang say.

"Yeah?" I asked, wondering why he was repeating himself.

"You just looked pretty out of it." He said. "How bout down there?" he asked, pointing at the ground where there looked like we would be able to land among some trees.

"I guess." I shrugged, and angled down toward it.

A few minutes later, we made a small fire for light. Unfortunately, or small pocket sized flashlights were dead.

"Get some sleep. I got first watch." Fang said, putting down his backpack and removing his dark sweatshirt. I straightened against the tree I was sitting against.

"No, I'll take it. You've been taking care of the Flock lately."

"And you've been for fourteen years. Get some sleep. I swear I'll wake you up for second."

"Fine." I sighed. I got up and laid down beside the fire next to where Fang was sitting on a rock. I didn't feel like dealing with an argument over watch right now.

I put an arm behind my head and looked up at the stars. I tried to slow my breathing and make myself sleepy. I tilted my head back to look at Fang. He was staring forward, engrossed by the flickering orange flames.

"Fang?" I said quietly.

He looked down at me.

"You've been doing good with the Flock. Especially under the circumstances. I've been useless the past two days." I hesitated. "I'm sorry."

Fang's eyebrows furrowed, and he stood up, towering over me. "Are you insane?" he asked.

"I hear a voice in my head. You tell me."

"Max," he said, sounding exasperated, "You don't-you can't…" this is one of the few, if only times in our lives that I'd see him struggle for words. He didn't talk much, so there wasn't much to compare it too, but it was still unusual. He sighed and sat down beside me. "You're like a superhero, Max. But that doesn't mean you don't have your kryptonite."

"What if I'm not a superhero?" I asked.

Fang smirked. "Trust me, you are. Just…you're never useless, Max."

He stood again and sat back down on the rock. I tilted my head back to look at him quizzically.

"Fang?"

He looked like he had a minute ago.

"Your new power is awesome." I said, not thinking that I was inflating his ego too much. It was true.

He smiled, and the firelight cast shadows across his face. "Thanks." He said.

Our gazes locked for a silent second. I blinked and looked back up at the sky.

"Max?" I heard Fang say quietly a few minutes later.

"Yeah?" I asked, not looking from the stars that dotted the sky.

His voice was barely audible. "I'm sorry, Max. Jeb…honestly, I was never sure about him, but now I know that he really did want to help us." He got off of the rock again and sat down beside me, still looking at our small fire.

"I didn't know Ari. Now I…I think I kind of regret it. I trust him now, Max. Not just for you. I trust him, but it's because of you that I started to in the first place."

"Dr. Martinez was awesome. If she hadn't been your mom, I would have wished she was mine.

Ella was a cool kid. She would have been an awesome person to have with us against Itex."

I couldn't stop a small sniff from escaping me. He looked down, his eyes burning into me.

I sat up and tucked my hair behind my ears.

"You didn't deserve this. Those…" he paused. "They're going to regret it. Or die. Whichever comes first. I swear, Max. I'm in this till they're stopped."

"Thank you." I whispered, my voice breaking. And then, get this, I hugged Fang. He's not a huggy guy, but I did it anyway. Honestly? I was touched, and glad that he would be the one with me when I took down Itex. I was also shocked at the little speech he'd just made. I knew it was just for my benefit.

"Sleep." He said, exhausting his word arsenal for the day. Then, even more shocking then the hug, he kissed the top of my head. He silently sat back down on his rock.

I blinked a few times, then laid back down on my side. When I felt softness underneath my head instead of hard ground, I realized he'd put his sweatshirt balled up on the ground so I could sleep on it, while I wasn't looking. I was about to give it back to Fang, not wanting to steal his sweatshirt, but the exhaustion of the day finally claimed me and I feel asleep.

**Aww, wasn't that cute? A few people have said that they want more Faxness, well, there you go. But non OVERLY sappy Faxness is one of my things in this fic, so sorry if you wanted more from me. Hahha. This is a bit of a poignant moment kinda chapter…**

**Reviews rock hard!! :D The purple button is wanting to be clicked because it feels unloved!! So show the purple button some love and click it ;)**

* * *


	22. Dog Food? You've got to be joking!

Total's chapter

**Here's Total's chapter as promised!! Hope you enjoy! (Just so you know, I case any of you decide to try to write a Maximum Ride Fanfiction in any Total POV, it's pretty difficult to get JUST the right blend of dry humor!!)**

**By the way, I have two disclaimers, first, in this chapter, I am not making fun of/nor do I own anything I reference. Lol.**

**Second (whoa, I havn't said this in FOREVER) I don't own Maximum Ride. Do I look like James Patterson to you? (…I certainly hope not, cuz I'm a girl…)**

**Anyway…here goes nothing!!**

The poodle was staring at me again.

My life had gone into freefall. (I'd experienced it a few times before. Sometimes I felt like it was Fang's doing on purpose, but I tried not to think about that right now.)

The bottom line is: the Flock dumped me.

Since they had heard Flyboys were coming, they'd been running around like scared little hybrids. On their...flight…from Doctor Martinez's house they dumped me here, in a _kennel_. Angel said, "It's because they didn't want me getting hurt."

Puh-lease. I knew it was because they didn't want me slowing them down. Nobody cares about the talking dog. If you don't have wings you don't have anything.

Sorry I didn't get to _say _anything while they were giving me my voice. "Oh, Mr. scary whitecoat? I've decided I don't _want _to talk, I want wings instead. How about it?"

Well, there was one upside. I can tell people how much I _despise _the substance loosely called dog _food_.

The poodle was still staring at me. Its beady eyes so cleverly appraised me as it's enormous tongue hung out of its mouth. What a dim-wit.

Just as cleverly, it had been named Winston…although this pink dyed poodle was obviously female. When hearing the name Winston, my mind immediately went to Winston Churchill. I felt bad for that wonderful man of valor, that he had to share his name with _this _mere poodle. The words of Winston Churchill came to mind, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." I'm no optimist. But anyone could see there was no opportunity here.

The hardest thing about being here was dealing with Chelsea. Every day she would smile and coo stupidly "hello doggie!" through the bars of my _shudder_ crate. What was nearly unbearable was holding back every remark that screamed itself in my head.

I won't list them to you, because that would tempt me too much.

What also nearly drove me over the edge, was the constant yapping. Of the workers _and _the dogs. I was kept up at all hours of the night. What ever happened to beauty sleep? Did they think this coat could be this glossy after six hours of sleep? Yeah, right buddy.

The Jonas Brothers played in the background. Stupid crooners. I wished it was Sean Kingston. What was a song that didn't say "Shawty"?

"Hello Beautiful." Please. Who calls anyone "beautiful" anymore?

After a few hours, I fell asleep on the hard metal floor of my crate. I woke up, stretching my aching shoulders. Iggy's backpack was better than this! I yawned, and after I scratched behind my right ear for a few minutes, I heard a yapping of what sounded like a Chihuahua. I looked through the bars to see a small Chihuahua cowering back against the far side of its crate while a huge bulldog growled at it from the cage beside it.

That wasn't fair?! Who did he think he was? He had no reason to be growling at the dog next to him, and on top of that, his coat was hideous! As I sat there, very ticked off, an idea sprang into my head. I was even more brilliant than I've ever given myself credit for.

_Mr.Churchill, I think I've found an opportunity…_

**What is Total's plan? Hmm…I'll allow you to dwell on that. Unfortunately (for you anyway…) I'll continue with Total towards the end of the fic (bwahahha)**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**

**Show the lonely purple button some love!!**


	23. If you call my sparky you're so dead

Woo hoo

**Okay, yes, I know, this chapter is short. But before you freak on me, it's important! And second, I only got five reviews on the latest chapter, and two were from friends who I TOLD to read and review! So do you see how I might not have enough motivation? Yeah, you know you get it. But I DO have to thank Amaya24 (probably my most faithful reader on this site (she's awesome, go check out Q&A Flock Style! Which has, unfortunately been discontinued, but whatever, there's eight hilarious chapters up there to be read!) and MaxRideNut, and anonymous kewl person for reviewing! You guys are great! But I must say to my other 14 subscribers, please review! Your reviews always give me ideas for later chapters guys! So…yeah, here goes! I know you guys miss our favorite pyro, so to make up for this short chapter, he'll be doing the disclaimer with me!!**

**IggyHey, Symeria! Long time no disclaimer!**

**Me **_**sigh **_**yeah, I know…I'm sorry I split up the Flock. But don't worry, you'll be seeing them again, and you'll get back together.**

**Iggy **_**I **_**could have told you that, Sym. You're such a softie when it comes to the Flock.**

**Me Hey, DO NOT underestimate my evil Iggy! Did you not see that whole "Incredibles" moment with Jeb in the last chapter? cough thatIdidn'tgetenoughcommetsonwhichstunnedmecuziluvedthatpart cough**

**Iggy **_**rolls eyes **_**Yeah, yeah Sym, whatever you say…Anyway, so, **_**what **_**don't you own?**

**Me **_**crosses arms **_**what do you mean?**

**Iggy **_**rolls eyes again **_**You know what I mean.**

**Me **_**sigh **_**fine, I don't own "The Incredibles."**

**Iggy No, not **_**that. **_**Well, you don't own "The Incredibles," but I mean the OTHER thing.**

**Me Rub in my misery over my lack of not owning stuff why don't you?! **_**Sigh **_**I don't own Maximum Ride.**

**Iggy **_**pats head **_**good crazy girl. You get ten Iggy radness point for that.**

**Me Really? **_**Squeals **_**Thank you, Iggy! **_**Hugs **_

**Iggy I'm getting used to hugs at this point….**

**Me Yay!! Does that mean I can give you another hug?**

**Iggy I didn't mean **_**that**_**.**

**Me **_**looks VERY sad**_**.**

**Iggy**_**sighs **_**fiiiines.**

**Me**_**squeaks **_** Thank you, Iggy! **_**Practically tackles Iggy, cause I love him THAT much.**_

**What can I say? Fang is busy right now, and Iggy is awesome and gives me Iggy radness points! Woo-hoo!**

Fang and I crouched behind a large, prickly bush as we watched the procession of Humvees approach. My eyes anxiously scanned the windows of all the cars, trying to catch a glimpse of The Director. I would need all the anger I could get to fuel myself for the next few hours.

Sorry if you wanted the story about how Fang and I got from America to Germany. I figured I wouldn't bore you with it. I mean, havn't you heard about it from me before? Basically, we sort of snuck onto a plane headed for France, and flew ourselves the rest of the way to Germany. Any questions? Well, save them for later, I have family to avenge.

The army green Humvees stopped at the entrance to the castle/headquarters, all bearing the Itex emblem on their side. A man climbed out of the front seat of the first vehicle. There surprisingly was no band on his arm bearing the Itex emblem like a Nazi Swastika. He ran around to the other side of the vehicle, and opened the back passenger door. A person stepped out of it, and began speaking to him, looking angry.

It was The Director.

I took all of the strength within me to spring from my hiding spot and launch myself over a hundred yards through the open air to get to her.

_Wait, Max. I swear, she's going down, just not now._

Fang spoke into my head. I nodded slowly, nearly growling. I had rolled up my jacket sleeves, and Fang grasped my bare forearm, as if he could hold me down.

"Ouch!" I heard Fang quietly whisper/yelp beside me.

"What?" I asked, whipping my head toward him.

"You shocked me. Hard. It just startled me."

I nodded and kept watched The Director talk to the man. Unfortunately, they were too far away for even me to hear. I saw The Director motion for someone in the Humvee to come outside. My jaw clenched.

"Omega." I growled.

"Yowch!" Fang cried quietly, yanking his hand away from my arm.

I whipped my head back to him. "What?" I hissed.

"First, that's Omega? He looks wimpier than Sam. Second, do you have a taser in your arm or something?" Fang whispered.

"What?" I whispered back. "What are you talking about?"

"It felt like you just sent an electric shock into my hand." He replied seriously.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "So…when I saw Omega and The Director, I shocked you?"

"I guess so." he replied, eyebrows raised.

I turned my gaze from the castle and Humvees for a moment and picked up a leaf that was on the ground.

Fang raised an eyebrow. "Just watch." I whispered. I frowned, and concentrated hard on the leaf, hoping this worked and I wouldn't end up looking like a complete idiot. I sure _felt _ like a complete idiot.

After a few seconds, in the flash of a moment, I saw a small blue spark leap from my fingertips onto the leap. It sizzled for a second, then small orange flames began to grow up it.

Fang stared at me wide eyed.

"I'm electric." I whispered disbelievingly.

**I gotta get some inspiration for the next few chapters, so show the purple button some love, and me some reviews! Come on, if you decide not to be lazy for one minute today, make it this one!! :D**

**By the way, the more inspiration/reviews I get (which really make me think, "HMM…I GOTTA write something for my lovely reviewers!" I need motivation if you don't want me to take forever to update) the faster I get to the CRAZY AWESOME stuff I have planned for this thing. Yes. I said crazy awesome. **

**Let's see, in stock we have….battles, escapes, death, MORE battles (which were SEVERELY lacking I the real fourth book) and Fang getting a new CRAZY AMAZINGLY AWESOME power. Yeah, you heard me. Oh, and throw in that whole Bi-half plan thing and I think we're gonna have one sick ride…buckle up.**


	24. My overly macho idiot

Woo hoo

**One hundred reviews!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! **

**Omg. I seriously jumped up and down and screamed with my buddy Rachel (she says hi) for like, five minutes!! This is so insanely awesome :D Thank you so much for getting me this far! **

**I'm SO HYPER RIGHT NOW, and didn't really edit it that much…so forgive me for mistakes. If you see any, please let me know and I'll correct them. Usually I take more time to edit, but I REEEAAALLYY wanted to get this chapter up there for you guys!!**

**This is a bit of a "Poignant moment, and tension" kinda chapter…buckle up. The ride continues here and just gets faster.**

**This one's for Rachel! :D (I swear, I WILL explode some helicopters for you soonish ;) **

I stared at my fingertips and flexed my hand slowly.

"How did I do that?!" I whispered.

Fang shrugged, still wide eyed. "I think when you get angry, that triggers it."

I swallowed hard and nodded. I heard a noise in front of us, and, startled, Fang and I whipped our heads back to the procession of Humvees. They were slowly starting to move forward through the gates into the Itex headquarters.

Suddenly, I was hit with one of my split second ideas that made even me marvel at my brilliance…or in some cases insanity.

Fang had tested the extent of his invisibility on the way here. On top of making himself invisible, he could make _me _invisible too for two minutes tops if we weren't touching, five if we were. He didn't say so, but I could tell it was hard for him, especially if we were moving.

"Let's go, now!" I said, grabbing Fang's hand and yanking him up. Fortunately, Fang instantly made both of us invisible as I flew toward the last Humvee in the line.

This would probably one of my stupid decisions that would possibly end up getting us killed, actually, I was sure of it, but always faithful Fang was still right behind me.

We landed on the roof of the last vehicle before it passed through the gates. I immediately dropped to my stomach, and I felt Fang's wing cover me, making keeping me invisible easier.

Even though I knew I was still invisible, I cautiously raised my head to do a quick scan of the headquarters. My eyes locked on The Director's back as she passed through a door to my left. I nearly growled again. I clenched my teeth as my gaze shifted back and forth, looking for Omega or Flyboys.

The Humvees began parking around the perimeter of the inner yard. I looked up and saw since the last…fiasco here, they'd installed a huge mass of criss-crossing bars of steel, which had the occasional inch thick spike here and there. They certainly weren't taking any more chances with aerial attacks. I almost smirked at the fact that a group of kids had forced them to these measures.

After we parked, to my horror, Flyboys began getting out of each and every Humvee. There were over a hundred Humvees, which meant over a thousand Flyboys. In case you've taken leave of your sanity, that's _bad_. They streamed from the back of the vehicles like bees that were just told someone left them hundreds of bouquets of flowers from Sam's Club. Yeah. Bad.

They marched through a large set of metal doors, and as the last went through, they slammed shut with a reverberating clang.

In a few minutes, there was no one left in the yard, and the sudden absence of enemies felt odd. After a moment, I heard Fang breathing beside me. Wait, I heard _Fang_. I could hear always silent Fang. I started to panic, realizing how long he'd been keeping us invisible.

"Fang!" I whispered anxiously. "Get into the back of the car." I whispered as I slid off the roof onto the ground. I heard the quiet crunch of gravel as Fang did the same on the other side. I felt Fang's hand on my shoulder as we climbed into the back of the Humvee. I shut the doors as quietly as possible. As soon as I had, I could see my hand in front of me. I heard a soft thud behind me, and I whipped around, ready to take on a Flyboy.

Instead, I saw Fang lying on the floor, one arm was resting across his chest, the other was flung out to the side. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing heavily, taking deep lungfuls of air. On his face and neck, there was a light sheen of sweat, plastering some of his long hair to his forehead.

"Fang!" I cried out softly, immediately crouching down beside him, hovering, looking for any signs of injury. He quickly raised the hand draped over his chest, signaling me to stop looking for injuries.

"I'm-I'm fine, Max. Just a little burned out. I'm okay." He said breathlessly. "I'm not hurt."

I figured out that he'd over exerted himself by keeping both of us invisible for…

I looked down at Fang's digital watch.

Nearly fifteen minutes!

"You kept both of us invisible for nearly fifteen minutes!" I exclaimed. I was shocked, his new power was practically completely unpracticed.

His breathing was retuning to normal. "Your point?"

I sat down in shock. "Your old record was five." I said disbelievingly. "And that wasn't under stress."

Fang looked at me, giving me a "Yeah, so?" look.

I paused. "You could have hurt yourself, you idiot! You have to _practice _with something like this before you do what you just did!"

"But at least I'm _your _idot." He said with a tired smirk. "I couldn't let them see you once we got in, so I kept going." He stated matter-of-factly. "Well, at least now we know my limit is fifteen."

"No way!" I countered. "You are not going to go fifteen minutes keeping both of us invisible _again_, got it?" I said sternly.

"I will if I have to." He said with a shrug.

I glared at him.

"Max, I'll push myself as far as I have to if it means helping you save the world. I'm not giving up."

I sat in contemplative silence for a moment. "My idiot, you are amazing."

Fang flashed a smile at me. "So, what now?"

I sighed and leaned back on my hands, looking around. "Okay, for now, you relax and get your strength back."

Fangs snorted. "Yeah, right. As I'm hiding out in Itex headquarters."

"Just do it while I think of a plan." I said.

Fang sighed, laying his head back down on the metal floor. His body was relaxed, but his hands were clenched into fists and his face was stern. His dark eyes looked as if they could pierce the metal ceiling. _Obviously _not relaxing.

I sighed.

_My Fang…My Idiot! _I mentally corrected myself. _Simply my overly macho idiot._

**Hope you liked! Show the purple button some love!! :D**


	25. Why do I keep getting knocked out?

**A lot of you probably looked to the right, and noticed how long the scroll bar is. You also probably got mad at me for making you wait so long for such a shot chapter. But what **_**you **_**don't know, is that I'm working in the next chapter. Yup. I'll probably have it up **_**really **_**soon, because this is a mean cliffie. Yes, I did just laugh evilly. This chapter is the beginning of a ton of more chapters with nothing but suspense and action. Don't worry, I still have a long way to go before the end. Buckle up. Let's Fly.**

I rested my head on my knees as I watched Fang to make sure he was okay and tried to think of a plan. I clenched my teeth as I realized that there were so many different routes of action we can take. The first, but most unlikely to succeed, would be Fang and I sneaking inside, somehow overhearing how they were going to execute the Bi-Half plan exactly, then figuring it out how to stop it (probably by destroying some sort of device,) destroying said device, then escaping, hopefully having a few spare minutes to take out The Director before we left.

Yeah right.

We would be lucky if we didn't get shot in the first five minutes of that plan.

Plan B: Sneak in, assassinate The Director. I _liked _that plan. The questions "how would we do it," and "would I be _able_ to," buzzed around my brain. I steeled myself and shut the second thought down. She had killed my family, I would be able to return the favor.

Plan C: Get out of here now, go find the Flock, and hide out until after the Bi-Half plan (which we had been programmed to survive) was over.

There was _no way _I'd go with Plan C. I convinced myself that, in my head, there _was _no Plan C.

Fang sat up, quietly groaning as he rolled his neck.

"Feeling better?" I asked.

"Just peachy." Fang replied. "Any ideas yet?"

"I'm working on it." I replied.

"I'm guessing your first idea is assassinating The Director, right?" he asked. Dang, that boy was perceptive.

"Close. First is stopping the Bi-Half plan, _then _assassinating The Director."

Fang nodded knowingly. "I'm guessing that plan involves us getting out of here unseen first."

"Yeah." I sighed, looking around.

"Well, that's easy." Fang said, standing up. "It'll only take about five minutes to get in, I can go for that long."

"No way!" I immediately protested. "You could have killed yourself, you are _not _making both of us invisible for a while.

"Fine. Then I'll go in alone, find out what's going on, then come back and get you."

Was he insane?! "Are you insane?! You've got to be kidding me." I stated.

Fangs shrugged. "I could only hope." He paused, studying the door. "Do these things even open from the inside?"

Just like Fang to find the fault in our plan at the very beginning. "Shoot." I muttered, getting up and walking over to the doors. I studied them for a moment, fingering the space where a doorhandle should be.

"_You _won't have to worry about opening them." A voice from outside said.

Before I could react, Fang had janked me away from the doors and slammed me to the ground. Next thing I knew, I heard a boom and a flash of white light as my eardrums ruptured.

The white faded to black.

**Bwahaha, so evil. Anyway, sorry if that wasn't the greatest chapter, I'm recovering from a headache. Oh, and I don't think I've said this in a while, I do not own maximum Ride. If I did, this would be on the shelves and not on FANfiction. Oh, and by the way, the purple button is extremely lonely. **

**Yes, I know, sometimes I take too long to update. Do you know what you can do to change that? **_**Review. **_**Or, if you really want me to get moving, send me a PM telling me what you thought of the latest chapter and to get my lazy butt moving. Yes, that's right, go ahead, tell me to write! I need motivation if you don't want me taking FOREVERR… ;-) Next chapter should be up soon though :D**

**Oh yeah, and did anyone else besides me re-read MR4 and conclude that it was pretty much "new power time and public service service announcement with the Flock?"**


	26. Maybe you can trust him again

Woo hoo

**Woooo!! Another short chapter done today!! WOOHOO!! Told you guys I'd have it up soon ;-) Important chapter!! Here's where you find out why they're basically torturing Jeb for information. But a few questions are raised as well….**

Dr. Martinez bit her lip as she tied the strip of cloth around Jeb's hand.

"They're getting more desperate." He rasped.

"I know." She whispered back, all of her attention on Jeb's bloody hand.

"I just hope the kids don't come here."

The Doctor sighed. "Of course they will. At least Max will, I know my daughter."

Jeb sighed as well. "I know my daughter as well, so I know she's coming. Just wishful thinking. She'll probably try to leave the rest of the Flock behind, and it might work."

Despite her exhaustion, Valencia smirked. "Fang would never let her come alone."

Jeb gave a brief, small smile. "That boy would follow her around the world and back again, without a doubt."

After a few minutes of silence as Dr. Martinez finished, Jeb tried to formulate a plan.

"I know that look, Jeb. We don't even know where they are. They'll find a way to track them eventually, and bring them here. Don't try to give them a fake location, they'll only end up killing you. There's nothing you can do."

"It could buy us a few days, and maybe I could find a way get the three of you out of here."

"There isn't a way. Please don't risk it. They'll find out you lied, then kill you."

"I can't just sit here, Valencia."

"Jeb, it's not like this is your choice!"

"But I _have _to do something, I owe those children. I owe them their lives, it's the least I could do to put mine on the line."

"This isn't about only _you _anymore! This is about your son, and my daughter, and _me_, Jeb. The Flock will find a way to stop the Bi-Half plan. I have complete confidence in them.

"Just hold on a bit longer, but don't give them any reason to kill you. If they do, they'll just move on to us until they find Max and Iggy to help them. Please." Valencia pleaded.

Jeb groaned brokenly. "Alright. For now."

"Thank you." Valencia breathed, kissing his forehead. "Get some sleep while you can." She said, rising and walking away.

Jeb laid down, staring at the ceiling.

That night, he dreamed of his daughter. He dreamed that he told Max that he hadn't betrayed them to the School after he disappeared, that it wasn't his fault. The School found the house through satellite. He told her that he'd had to leave because the school contacted him, saying if he didn't return they all would have been blown off the map immediately. He dreamed that Max had believed him.

A small smile actually spread over Jeb Batchelder's face as he slept.

**Sorry about Jeb (the guy some of you love to hate) but I didn't want him to be the bad guy anymore! (Trust me, you guys have a lot of bad dudes to worry about in this thing…) Anyway, so, some questions remain. How did they survive the crash? Where are they? What's going on with Jeb and Dr. Martinez?! And most importantly, in case you missed it, why is Iggy important to Itex? We all know that Max was built to "save the world," but that was intended in Itex's sense of the word. (Destroying half of it.) So, will Max be able to stop the destruction? And, another big one, WHAT IS FANG'S OTHER POWER?!**

**Just trust me, it's incredibly amazingly awesome. Me and my buddy LovinaHolmes came up with it, and it's TOTALLY wicked amazing, you can count on that ;-)**

**Show the purple button some love PLEASE!! Opinions (good or bad) are (as always) completely welcomed.**


	27. What is this stuff?

Woo hoo

**Yess!! –Pumps fist- I finally got this typed!! I'm SOOOO sorry, I totally would have had this up on Wednesday, but my mom grounded me from my laptop, hahaha, so blame my mom! –wink- anyway, Thursday, you can blame my friends who called me to hang out. Friday, you can kinda blame me for that one. Important plans. TODAY, I have all day to do nothing. :D And I'm sorry that I won't put up another chapter of this thing today. Blame one of the aforementioned friends –wink- This thing is long-ish for you guys!! You totally deserve it!!**

**Okay, so…This chapter is…sketchy. Not like "inappropriate for children" sketchy, I mean like, "Slightly disoriented and confused birdkids" sketchy. You'll see, hahah. **

**By the way...just to clarify now…I know I'm evil.**

**The song for this chapter is "Falling inside the Black" by Skillet. I may have used this one before…oh well. Hahah, it fits best for THIS chapter, trust me –wink- **

**Max POV up until I say otherwise.**

**Hope you enjoy!!**

I woke up to a dull pounding.

Thu-thump. Tha-thump.

The pulsing in my head hurt.

_Whatever's doing that better stop…_

Then I realized it was my heartbeat.

_Wait a sec, I take it back! I take it back!_

My heartbeat pounded in my head, and it felt like someone was hammering into my skull.

I knew I was on a hard, flat surface. I couldn't feel any part of my body, just the pain in my head.

It almost felt like when I was in the sensory deprivation chamber, except this time I could hear the faint murmuring of voices.

…_A success…yes, no side effects…there's no possibility of Batchelder helping her…no, without the cranial chip she won't be able to communicate with him…it was taken out by Martinez…yes…yes, Director._

_Did he just say Batchelder? Now? Cranial chip…_

I lapsed back into full unconsciousness.

"Max! Max!"

I heard my name being called before I felt the person shaking my arm.

"Max! Please, please, wake up!"

"Stop." I mumbled/groaned. My head felt like I was recovering from a brain attack. Maybe I was, who knew. The last thing I truly remembered was a white light.

"Come on, Max!" I heard the small voice plead.

I opened my eyes to see a few of the faces I wanted to see most and least in this world.

"Finally!" Angel cried, throwing her arms around me. Nudge and the Gasman practically tackled me to the stone floor.

**Fang POV**

My eyes flickered open.

The first thing I did was groan as my eyes met a dim light. I lifted my arm up to shield my eyes as I blinked a few times to adjust. Looking up, I could see a row of spaced windows towards the ceiling of this…cell.

I was captured.

Woo-hoo.

Note as much sarcasm as possible here, people. Multiply that by Fang and ticked and you'll have the exact amount of sarcasm I'm using here.

I tried to remember how I got here, or just plain where I was. The last thing I remembered was a really bright light…

The explosion. They got us.

I jerked my head up to look around me to see if Max was with me. Had she gotten hurt by the explosion? Killed?

I immediately pushed _that _thought out of my mind. If I kept thinking like that, without knowing if the rest of the Flock was safe, would drive me insane.

Forget it. Even if I did know the Flock was safe, I'd still be going insane over Max.

If I'd survived, she would have had to as well, right? And they wanted her for that whole "save the world" aka "help blow it up so the remaining survivors can live in their new, perfect, _half destroyed _world."

So, seeing that Max wasn't here, I laid my head back down for a second and tried to calm myself. She was fine. I'd get out of here, find her, then take down the Director, then escape.

Simple.

Note that whole sarcasm thing again. You should be used to it by now.

I became aware of an odd sensation in my legs below my knees. It felt like they were hanging off of a ledge or something into….some sort of gooey, watery, cold substance.

I looked down, tried to move my legs, and then hollered bloody murder in terror/ shock.

The floor was flat. I knew that. There couldn't be a ledge.

_**And I couldn't see my lower legs.**_

**(AN: I thought about ending the chapter here. But I actually thought back to al the times that I've been totally cruel and left you guys hanging, and decided to continue. Don't you love me?)**

I started hyperventilating and scrambling backwards with my arms.

_What have they done to me?!_

Was this some kind of sick experiment? Did they just randomly decide to amputate the legs of multi-million dollar test subjects?

I looked down again.

I was fully in the light now, and _**the light cast a gleam over my legs…**_

That were all there.

**(AN: Had you pretty freaked there, huh? Hahah, yes, I know I'm evil. But I have cookies :D)**

I'm not going to type what I was _really _thinking at that moment for the benefit of any impressionable children reading this.

What just happened?! Were they making me have some sort of sick hallucinations? Were they pulling that dream thing again like the last time they captured us at the School?

I tentatively reached down. My whole legs were there, completely fine.

I pinched myself, then.

Dream thing was out.

There _had _to be some sort of pit or something. There had to be some sort of reason that I felt like my legs weren't there. And what about the wet, cold stuff? I slowly crawled towards where the light met the dark in the room, where my lower legs had been. I cautiously reached forward a hand, sliding it along the floor. I expected my hand to start sinking any second when it came in contact with the possible pit and cold stuff, so I kept reaching further.

As soon as my hand went into the shadow, I began to feel the sensation again. It was as cold as when you try to take a shower, then realize Nudge used all the hot water. Not completely freezing, but less than room temperature. I reached further. My hand began to sink into the stuff.

It almost seemed sticky as I pulled my hand back, like it was hard to pull out of it. I examined my hand, expecting there to be some sort of sick, experimental ooze on it.

It looked exactly the same. I rubbed my palms together. Felt the same.

I raised an eyebrow and reached forward along the floor into the shadows like I had before.

I reached down further this time, flexing my hand in the weird stuff. I could still move normally, it just felt…odd. I reached in further, up to my elbow, tying to come in contact with the side of the pit that must be there.

The odd sensation began filling my entire arm.

It was slowly _**sucking me downward.**_

I gasped and tried to pull back. When I couldn't, I braced my other hand where I guessed the ledge was, and tried to pull myself out.

The feeling started in my fingertips.

The stuff started dragging me downward.

I tried to get to my knees to pull my arms out, but it was too strong for me.

I closed my eyes as my head got dragged into the substance.

I couldn't feel the rest of my body for a few seconds, but then it felt like I was falling inside the black.

Darkness.

Panic.

**-Hides from angry mob of disgruntled, confused fanfic readers- Yes, I know what you're all wondering. A) WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! And B) Symeria, have you been forgetting to take some important meds lately…?**

**Answer to A, you'll just have to wait and see, I know it's odd and confusing. And B) No, not unless you count forgetting to grab Tylenol before I leave the house. (I get a lot of headaches)**

**I KNOW it's weird, okay? Nobody knows what happened on this site besides LovinaHolmes (Great Thief Lord Fanfic, go check it out!!) Cuz she's awesome and helped me come up with this. :D**

**Please tell me if you found any typos, I'm rushing to get this out to you guys!!**

**-SHAMELESS ADVERTISING FOR A FIC I'M BETA-ING- Hahah, okay, go check out "The RETURN of the Q and A!" by Amaya24!! I wrote the question for chapter 2!! :D And the lovely Amaya got the Flock to answer them for me :D DOOO IIITTTTT, you won't regret it, I was a total fan before I became the Beta, and I still am. Go show Amaya's purple button some love!**

**And on THAT note, see that little blue/purple button? Yeah. Click it and say something. **

**Must I really do this again? You know I hate sharing…**

**Hugs from Fang and Iggy if you review!! –wink- yeah, I knew THAT would get you. **

**And for the guys reading this?? Hmm…havn't gotten reviews from many guys lately…Oh well, if you're a guy reading this, review and I'll think of something for you if you review, okay?**


	28. It's sad that this is almost normal

Horrible, Terrible person. That's what I am. A horrible, terrible person for keeping you guys on the hook like that. For like, THREE WEEKS. Seriously, guys, I feel your anger coming through me at the computer, like every day, as you're thinking "WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS MAXIMUM RIDE RELATED ISN'T SHE UPDATING?!" Honestly guys, I feel dreadful.

Anyway, I do have SOME form of defense against those metaphorical pitchforks you've been aiming at me. A friend was visiting from Florida for TEN DAYS. Then I went on VACATION where I didn't have to post. I re-wrote this chapter FOUR TIMES for you guys cuz I never thought I got it exactly right. Anyway, I'm still not exactly the most pleased with the writing of this chapter, but whatever, your questions from the last chapter will be answered.

I fought.

I kicked, thrashed, tried to do something, but I was pulled under. Whatever was in the blackness, I was about to face it head on. Or head in.

I know that this is going to sound a lot like Nudge, but for once I really did not like black.

Panic strangled me, making my thoughts incoherent to even myself. Fight or flight responses rushed to my thrashing limbs, but I couldn't do either.

Maybe it was the adrenaline rushing through my brain, making it work. Maybe it was that I'd been under this stuff longer than I thought I had. Or maybe it was that I'd finally gotten some control over myself. Whatever it was, I realized I was breathing.

My lungs felt like when you're trying to take in air on an icy winter morning. It feels as if your breath is shallow and being sucked away, but you're still able to inhale.

But this stuff didn't feel cold.

It felt slightly cooler, but not a winter chill. The thin air seemed to swirl around me, and I felt aware at the very touch. Somehow…I felt everything. I felt like I was spread out all through this blackness, like I knew exactly where I was. I seemed to be aware of every bit of unlimited space in whatever form of prison this place was. Oddly enough, my limbs still felt solid, attached the way the should be.

My next sense that I became aware of was sight. At first, everything was black, but when I tilted my head-looking up I assumed- and I could see a source of light.

It was almost like looking upwards in a pool. The light flickered as if ripples crossed the surface. The difference was, instead of being clear, it was dark as if someone had dropped a bottle of black dye into it.

I wanted to get to the light. Whatever this was, I wanted to get out, now. Light was, for once, all I wanted.

Suddenly, I felt the breath nearly being sucked from me. It was the same sort of feeling I'd felt when riding "Splash Mountain" with the Flock at DisneyWorld. I didn't have any control over myself anymore, so I shut my eyes and yelled.

After it stopped, I shuddered and opened my eyes.

The feeling of stone beneath my fingers felt almost unbearably rough.

I gasped and sat up.

My breathing was returning to normal, it wasn't hard anymore. I looked around, finding myself in the same cell again. I looked down at the floor, I knew I hadn't moved anywhere from where I had come up.

Impossibly, I realized what had most likely just happened. And it's a sad day when you realize something like this is a likely thing.

I had been inside a shadow.

I'm gonna try to write another chapter today! PLEASE review, they motivate me so much and feedback really helps me figure out which ways to go about the story for you guys :D Let me know what you think of this new power!! As far as I know, it's completely original, thought up by me and LovinaHolmes (Who I thank a million times for helping me, I love this power!) So yeah, as you can tell, I'm kinda proud of it, lol.


	29. Iggy's pinecone distruction extravaganza

Woo hoo

**Okay, because of the awesome response I got ( I'm SO glad that most of you liked Fangs power!) A note to MaxRideNut: What you said about hating that I left you at a cliffhanger, but appreciating it for the quality, thank you, SO MUCH! Hahaha, I know it sounds weird to appreciate being hated, but that's how I feel about writers that I love, so that made me feel really cool :D**

**Anyway, I'm sorry, but we have to leave Fang for a bit. **

**Hides from attack.**

**Wait! Just hear me out!**

**I swear, I'll get back to him soon, I just figured you guys may want to know what happened, and is happening with the rest of the Flock.**

**Anyway, here goes!**

"What are you doing here?" asked stupidly. Cut me some slack, I was still slightly loopy from whatever they had me on.

The three of them started talking in a tumult at once. After I got them to take turns, I got the full story.

Iggy grunted again and chucked a fourteenth pinecone into the enormous oak with as much force as his genetically modified super-strong arm could muster. He didn't see it shatter into thousands of tiny pieces, he could have if he'd used his power, but he really didn't care right now.

Max and Fang had deserted them.

The stupid promise breakers.

They'd left them behind. Because they thought they were too weak to take down Itex. They'd underestimated them, being almighty Max and Fang, defenders of the world.

They'd underestimated _him_.

Did they really think he wasn't willing to put himself in danger for them? His best friends, his siblings, his _family _were off risking their necks alone, and all he could do was wait by because of _them_.

This wasn't a double sided issue, it was freaking octagonal at this point.

It didn't matter, not really. They weren't his responsibility.

But then the stupid voice in the back of his head chimed in with the fact that he cared. He loved them, he really did. And if those numbskulls didn't get themselves killed he'd make sure they knew it. If they did get themselves killed, well, he'd never forgive them.

Another pinecone was decimated.

He couldn't take another death of someone he cared about, or had _finally _pretty much come to reconciliation with.

Ari was only seven, almost eight. He'd tried to kill them countless times, had almost killed Fang in hand to hand combat _twice_, had turned them over to the school, basically made everything a heck of a lot harder. But he was only seven. Could you really expect someone not to act the way they were meant to? He'd been _meant _to kill them. _Built _to kill them. But he'd overcome that, in the end. He'd turned around from what was natural, what he'd been created to do. Didn't someone like that sort of deserve some degree of reconciliation?

Jeb…with Jeb, he guessed he'd never know. Jeb was dead now, he couldn't find out his motives. He'd claimed to be on their side so many times, but why did bad things keep happening? Whatever, it couldn't matter to Iggy, it could have all just been an act. He couldn't let more sympathy get to him.

Dr. Martinez. Max's _mom_. The only mom they'd ever found, and probably one of the only people on the planet who would take in six mutant bird kids and a mutant dog without batting an eyelash. They hadn't even _asked_. She'd insisted. She'd taken care of them when no one else had. Unfortunate, Iggy realized that she had loved them. All of them. And that just made it worse.

There was going to be a major shortage of pine cones in this forest.

No. He wouldn't go there. No.

_Her _face popped into his head. The flutter his heart usually made at the thought of her was now instead knives driving into it.

Iggy sat down, hard, putting his arms around his knees. He buried his face in his knees and gritted his teeth. He couldn't break, he couldn't. He had responsibility to the Flock. He couldn't think about her. He couldn't think about how she'd only turned fourteen a few weeks ago. He couldn't think about how understanding she was about his differences. He couldn't think about how her voice sounded when she laughed. He couldn't think about how she was so considerate.

Definitely not about how she would push something closer towards him so he could find it easier, but not tell him. Not about how she would ask him to play soccer with him, not underestimating him because he couldn't see the ball. She understood he was blind. And she didn't care, either. She didn't care he was blind, she didn't care if he had six limbs, she didn't care he was a genetically mutated freak. She was the one person on the planet who treated him like he was _normal_.

And that's why he'd completely fallen for her.

And that's why he couldn't think of her now.

He couldn't bust out in the tears he wanted to and just break down.

He couldn't think he lost the innocent girl who accepted him as he was.

He couldn't cry for Ella because he wouldn't be able to put himself together again.

He had to be strong for all of them now.

Iggy gritted his teeth harder and stood, stalking into the forest to find more pinecones.

**Woohoo, wasn't that a supa-fast update?**

**I hope you guys either enjoyed it, or it made you feel sad like Iggy. Hahah, either way would be accomplishing my purpose. **

**Most of all, you've seen the power of reviews. Isn't amazing? Fast responses get you updates in TWO DAYS! / makes mystical hand gestures\ OoooHHhhh, Magiiiccc.**

**Hahha, jk, anyway, you know how lonely that purple button is D **


	30. A chat with the ruler of the dark forces

Woo hoo

**Hello readers who havn't gotten an update in much too long!**

**I know that the last chapter was LOVED by a lot of you…which left me going. **

**Wow, I have some twisted fanfic readers…**

**Hahha, jk! I really put a lot of emotion into that chapter. (Since you guys apparently love it so much) There's a little bit more emotion at the beginning of this chapter. But after that, the Flashback ends and we're back with Max,Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel being trapped somewhere. **

**WARNING: The end of this chapter may make some very happy, while also raising many potential doubts…The end of this chapter is also filled with a lot of sarcasm. –Grins-**

Nudge was _really _worried about Iggy. He had been sitting like that, with his sweatshirt hood up with his arms crossed over his chest tightly for an hour, his blue eyes locked onto the flickering orange flames. Nudge wasn't even sure if he made the effort to do his mental snapshot thing to see it. To her, Iggy looked like one of those wax figures at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in Europe.

Nudge had been quiet for a full twenty minutes, almost a record for her. As soon as she realized this, she had the urge to start talking again.

"Do you think we could follow them?" I pondered out loud.

"But how would we know where they went?" the Gasman asked on the other side of the fire.

"We're smart, we could find out how to get to Germany." Nudge said, assuredly. Despite trying to plan, everyone was quiet and very discouraged. Loss still had them in its smothering grasp since the human portion of their inner circle had been killed. Max and Fang leaving them to go take down Itex alone was almost too much to bear…

Angel just shrugged and sighed. She hadn't said much lately, but her mourning blue eyes said enough. After a few minutes, she quietly got up and walked over to Iggy. Nudge and the Gasman's eyes followed her confusedly. What was she doing?

Iggy's eyes didn't leave the fire as she stood next to him. Angel just crossed her arms and stood, watching him, until he noticed she was there. Iggy looked up disinterestedly, shooting her a look that said, "What in the world could you possibly want from me right now?"

After a moment of pointless staring, Angel put a hand on his shoulder and murmured quietly. "I know you loved her, you know. It's okay to be sad, we miss 'em all." With that, she reached down, untangled Iggy's arms from around him frame, and sat down in his lap, replacing his arms around her. Iggy just sat numbly in shock for a moment.

The Gasman shot Nudge a puzzled look. Nudge shrugged and watched Angel and Iggy again.

After a minute, Iggy's arms tightened around angel, and he partly buried his face in her hair. "Thanks, Ange." He murmured quietly. He gave her a quick kiss on the back of her small blonde head before he went back to staring at the fire.

Nudge's heart beat sorely. Why hadn't she realized it before?

She was a girl, so of _course _she knew that Iggy at least had a _crush _on Ella, but loving her? A crush and love was a _big _difference. Could Iggy really have _loved _Ella? The only people she knew who loved each other were…

No, the slight feeling of betrayal made it hard to think of them at the moment. Although she would forgive them soon.

Looking at Iggy's blank face, she knew the answer. Of _course _he loved Ella.

And he was the closest to jumping off a cliff (wings tucked in) as he had ever been.

Nudge sighed as she watched the Gasman walk over to put his arm around his best friend.

Terrible thoughts plagued her mind.

What if Max and Fang never came back? What if they were killed and Itex won? Would the rest of them be doomed to live on a half destroyed planet? Would they have to see the results of their failure every day? Would she always think of millions of people, then realize half of them were dead?

Nudge shuddered and stopped her thoughts dead end. She bit her lip and stared into the flames like Iggy.

"Nudge?" she heard a voice say. She looked up to see Angel looking at her expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Angel said.

Nudge's heart gave a sore thump. She slowly shook her head and walked over, sitting down on Iggy's other side.

After a few moments of silence, Iggy did something Nudge _never _would have expected him to do right now. He started chuckling.

Nudge looked at him like he was crazy…because maybe he was. How far could one mutant birdkid go before going over the edge?

"Uhh…Iggy…are you alright?" the Gasman asked hesitantly.

Iggy snorted and paused. "So, there was a priest, a rabbi, and four mutants sitting on a log in the woods…" Iggy started.

Although it wasn't _that _funny, Nudge started laughing.

It felt good to laugh, no matter how small a reason it was. At least Iggy was feeling better enough to attempt to make possibly the worst joke in history. After a second, Angel and Gazzy joined in with them, laughing loudly, breaking silence's crushing grasp.

"Hey, shh! Quiet for a sec!" Iggy suddenly said. The four of them were silent. "I think I hear something." Iggy barely whispered.

Nudge's eyes swept the dark, surrounding forest. She could hear her heart starting to pound in her ears. Her eyes focused to the darkness, and she peered into the shadows.

Out of no where, something flashed a brilliant white, blinding her, and making her eyes scream in pain.

"Aah!" Nudge yelled, throwing her arm up to cover her eyes. Angel and Gazzy reacted the same way.

"What?! What's going on?! Iggy said, standing up, making Angel almost fall off of his lap.

"I don't know!" she shrieked, rubbing her eyes.

Suddenly, Nudge was seized from behind. "Let me go!" she screamed, thrashing wildly. She was still blinded and practically useless. She heard a similar shriek from Angel, as the Gasman began yelling threats at the top of his lungs. She heard the sound of Iggy grunt as (she guessed) his foot connected with a Flyboy. The struggle was brief, and when Nudge regained her vision, all she saw was a line of Flyboys, and some sort of giant plane ready to take them away.

"So after they got us in there, the knocked us out, and when we woke up, me, Gazzy, and Angel were here…and Iggy was gone." Nudge said, her voice choking at the end.

"Have you seen him at all since?" I asked, clenching my jaw.

Nudge shook her head solemnly.

"They brought you in here a few hours ago." Angel chimed in.

"They knocked me out with an explosion and a light too…" I muttered, rubbing my head.

I suddenly realized the stupidity I thought was only reserved for Flyboys. "Where's Fang?" I asked, panicked.

Gazzy shrugged. "We don't have a clue."

I groaned and put my arms around my folded legs. A static sound filled the air, and I jerked my head up. "What's that?" I started looking around.

Nudge pointed to a television like monitor towards the ceiling in a corner of the room.

The Director's face filled the screen.

"Hello, creations." She said coldly, giving a wicked smile.

I jackknifed to my feet and scowled at the screen.

"Ah. Maximum. I see you're awake."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "It looks to me like I'm still in a nightmare, but hey, I guess it's whatever you say, right? Isn't that what you want? I suppose ruling the dark forces of the universe gives you a bit of authority."

"Ah, glad to see you finally recognize what authority looks like."

"Yeah, it's ugly, and I still have no respect for it.

The Director chuckled. "How clever. But if I were you, I wouldn't be making such remarks."

"If you were me, the world would be annihilated by now. I think I'll keep things the way they are, thanks." I snapped.

"Well, since I _am _me, and have authority over this base, I can order your father, mother, brother, and sister killed, so I would advise you to think before you speak."

My sarcasm dropped and my glare turned murderous. "Little late for that, don't you think?" I snarled.

"It's never too late, Maximum. And you should know by now. _Things are never as they seem_."

Two Flyboys dragged four people through the door behind her onscreen.

We had some very mixed reactions.

Gazzy yelled, "_What?!_"

Angel gasped loudly.

Nudge yelled, "OMG! They're alive!"

I my mouth dropped open and I stopped breathing.

"…Mom? …Ella? …Jeb? …Ari?" I whispered, pausing between each impossible name.

…**DUN DUN DUUUUNN!!**

**Hahaha, reviews make me write faster! SO CLICK THAT PURPLE BUTTON!**

**Oh, and if I don't update for way too long, I ENCOURAGE PMs sent to me yelling at me to get my lazy butt moving. –grin- **

**Also, good luck to all you guys starting school tomorrow!!**

**Oh, one more thing I almost forgot. **

**I want to change the title of this thing (as I've been intending to do all along) so, I'm currently taking suggestions for titles! So, I'm gonna have a little contest. **

**In your review, leave your idea for a title in the comments (feel free to leave more than one!!) and whoever's title I like best, I'll tell them a small spoiler for later in this thing! (since this isn't THAT much of an incentive) here's something you'll get that EVERYONE wants. That's right.**

**BRAGGING RIGHTS!! Hahaha. So, comment those story title ideas, and the creator of the chosen title will get the small spoiler (well, more like the telling of a plot detail. Not necessarily a "spoiler") and the bragging rights!!**

**Let the contest begin! **


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